Partners Week!
by Lovely- Queen of Toast
Summary: As a Madrigal, Amy is in charge of helping the Cahills stay connected. She has a brilliant plan- why not split all the Cahills apart randomly for some one-on-one time? But is it really such a good idea to force Cahills to spend time with one another? Only one thing is certain- when the week is up, a lot of surprising secrets will have unearthed themselves. Chaos loves the Cahills.
1. A Disaster Begins?

_A/N_

_Hey!_

_I just wanted to give a brief explanation, as I usually do... This story is going to spotlight different characters and bounce between their storylines. I recently became obsessed with the 39 Clues, and the last book I read was A King's Ransom, so I'm on my way to catching up. This story takes place between the first and second series._

_Please note: I love constructive criticism, as well as compliments ;) If there's anything that needs improving, don't hesitate to tell me! I'd love to hear from you._

_Disclaimer: I do not own the 39 Clues. If I did Evan Tolliver would have died in a mysterious ballooning accident long ago._

CHAPTER ONE: A Disaster Begins?

**~Amy~**

Amy Cahill was fretting. Fretting was a good vocabulary word- and it described exactly how she was feeling.

As a Madrigal, and sort of a top one, at that, she was in charge of quite a few things, one of them being to help plan 'social adventures', as Amy's Uncle Fiske liked to call them... They were events that brought as many Cahills together as possible, providing them a place to stay and time to stay connected. Though the guests would usually stay in Grace's house, the social adventures would often take them someplace else for the day, and at night they'd retire at the beautiful new house.

Amy knew these outings could very well be vital- that the Madrigals were still the glue binding all the branches. Glue could be dissolved, and Amy never wanted that to happen. She and her brother, Dan, and a whole lot of other people had worked too hard to let their efforts crumble.

So such was this- that Amy had to plan a social adventure. She had two days left to think of a plan- she'd had weeks, but had come up with nothing. She'd even shamefully lied when Fiske asked in on her to make sure it was all going okay, and that she had something planned, but she had told him it was a surprise. Amy sighed and flopped down on her bed. This was the first SA that Fiske and the other Madrigals had let her plan completely by herself- and she had absolutely no idea what to do.

It was hard enough, because the Cahills were all like stubborn mules. The SA's were meant to get them to trust each other, and they had in the past year after the clue hunt had some very successful ones...

Suddenly Amy got a brilliant idea. She cried out when the idea came to her, and she smiled, already getting excited. She raced across her room to retrieve a pen and a notebook to write down some names.

"One-on-ones!" Amy muttered to herself excitedly. In the past, all the outings had been massive group things. So why not give everyone a chance to work one-on-one with a member of another branch? She quickly scribbled down the names of those who knew knew would -grudgingly- be attending the next social adventure. Amy made two lists, one for adults and the other for the kids, because she thought it'd be more organized and less likely to get complaints about.

Amy was really getting herself excited now.

When she was done, the 'kids' list looked as the following:

Me (Amy)

Dan

Natalie Kabra

Ian Kabra

Madison Holt

Reagan Holt

Hamilton Holt

Sinead Starling

Ned Starling

Ted Starling

Jonah Wizard

Phoenix Wizard

Excitement continued to build in Amy, and she set herself up for describing the rules. She wrote them down, too, in addition to the names on the paper.

In her excitement, the two days passed quickly.

**~Dan~**

Social adventure time, Dan thought with a groan. A magnificent two days had passed since Amy had come up with her idea, and Dan knew about it. He couldn't say he was pleased. It'd be harder to have his usual fun if he was paired with only one person. That would mean no pranking, probably, because if he tried to prank whoever his partner was, they'd know it was him, and that took away all the fun...

Well, usually everyone knew it was him who did the pranking anyway. Like last time, when he'd poured like, a gallon of pepper into Ian Kabra's soup. But whatever, that wasn't the point.

Dan was also focused on the fact that his partner could be anyone. If it was Hamilton, he'd be pretty happy, and Ned and Ted were kinda cool, too, when they'd weren't being ridiculously smart. Sinead was much worse than them in terms of smart-ness. Jonah was okay. Dan still didn't know Phoenix too well, and Madison and Reagan sounded like nightmares to him. If he ended up with Ian, he decided, he wasn't going to hold back, and that poor cobra was going to be running back to England with more than just a sore peppered throat... Oh yeah, and Natalie. SHE would be a handful to deal with. Dan actually shuddered.

Amy stuck Dan with the task of greeting everyone at the door, which he was particularly bad at, but he tried, sort of. Maybe.

Soon the house had filled with all that would be coming. Amy looked a little nervous, and Dan almost felt a little bad. For the most part, Amy had conquered her fear of public speaking after the clue hunt. But if anyone made her nervous, it was her extended family of Cahills, especially the Kabra's, with their high class life and polished smirks.

Amy explained, somewhat nervously, then gaining confidence, how it would work. "Okay, everyone." Dan heard her announce. All the eyes in the room turned to his sister. "This time we'll be doing something a little different." All were completely quiet now. Dan leaned against a huge potted plant. "As you all know, it's important for us to build strong relationships of trust with each other- so this time, I'm taking a more individualized approach." Amy looked at Sinead for support, and her best friend flashed her a smile. Amy smiled back weakly, still never completely over her fear of public speaking. "Our week will be spent in pairs. Your partner will be determined randomly, pulled out of a hat. Adults and kids are separate," She added awkwardly, feeling weird calling herself a kid. "The only rule is that you have to spend the week together, and your partner can't be someone from your own branch. Whatever you decide to do this week is up to you and your partner."

Dan winced, not looking forward to this week. It was just too crazy, being a Cahill... He could hear the usual complaints coming out around the room, but they were all talk and no action this time around. Sinead dutifully handed out pens and paper, and everyone wrote their names and dropped it into the hat. Once everyone had been accounted for, Dan pushed to the front of the crowd.

"I'll go first." He said loudly. Logically, he thought- and Dan wasn't big on logic, so he was pleased with himself- that if he went first, he'd have the biggest chance of getting a partner he could tolerate. Right? Didn't that make sense?

Dan made a big show of putting his hand into the hat. Then he pulled out the slip of paper he'd chosen in slow motion, like a robot.

"COME ON!" Hamilton yelled, and Dan couldn't tell if he was psyched or impatient. Come on, Dan thought, silently praying a repeat of what Hamilton had just said.

When he unfolded his paper slip, he saw a neat, flowery writing, which said:

Natalie Kabra

Dan winced. "Uh, can I go again?" He whispered to his sister. Amy frowned at him from where she stood, looking official and holding the hat.

"No. Now who'd you get?" Amy asked, trying to peer at the paper. Her frown didn't last long. "Tell everyone!" She added, with an enthused smile. Dan frowned. Amy obviously did NOT get it... Dan sighed.

"Natalie." He said loudly, in his best complaint voice. Natalie looked rather horrified, but being the dignified person she was, she -somewhat disgustedly- took a place beside Dan. Dan rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. It was going to be a heck of a long week.

**~Sinead~**

"Okay, everyone." Amy chirped. "If you get Dan's name, you'll have to throw it out. He's got his partner." Both Dan and Natalie flinched when Amy said they were partners. Sinead imagined Natalie would love to throw Dan out... She lingered by the hat, wondering who she'd get as a partner. Amy smiled at her. "Want to go next, Sinead?" She invited. The redhead smiled, and reached for the hat.

"You bet." She told Amy. Sinead wasted no time, anxious to see who she'd get as a partner. She felt mildly disappointed, somehow, when her paper said

Hamilton Holt

in big, scratchy letters. She had to call out Hamilton's name. Hamilton didn't look so pleased, either. It wasn't that Sinead didn't like the Holt, exactly... It was just that it had been hard for her to forgive him and the other Holts for planting the bomb that had hurt her brothers so early on in the clue hunt. And Sinead wasn't sure Hamilton would be able to carry out a real conversation with her...

"What's up?" Hamilton asked her. He attempted a smile, but Sinead said nothing back to the Tomas.

The next to be paired, as Sinead observed stoutly, were Madison and Ned. Then, after first drawing her own name, then drawing some names that had already been used and were then removed, Reagan pulled Phoenix's name. That left Ted, Amy, Jonah and Ian, and Sinead wondered who would end up with her best friend. She hoped silently that it wasn't Ian- Amy and Ian, she thought, was a recipe for disaster. Amy's feelings were always open to Sinead, who could read her like a book, and she didn't think it'd be so good for her friend to be mixed up with Ian for a whole week.

But Jonah went, and pulled out Ted's name. Jonah and Ted met each other, and Jonah high-fived Ted. Amy's smile disappeared, and her eyes widened. Sinead winced for her friend.

"I don't need to pull out a name." Ian smirked in Amy's direction. "So, you and me for a whole week?" Amy looked embarrassed, and like she suddenly thought her idea hadn't been a good one. Sinead narrowed her eyes at the scene, silently promising Amy she'd personally kill Ian if he did anything to her. Sinead knew Amy had a crush from school, but she wasn't in a relationship, and as far as Sinead was concerned, Ian was just going to mess with her.

She was about to march over there and give Ian a piece of her mind already, but Hamilton grabbed her wrist and started to drag her outside. And Hamilton was huge and immensely strong. He seemed to be hopeful about his pairing with Sinead after witnessing the worst pairing by far, which had to be Amy and Ian. So he took Sinead and pulled her outside with him, mustering up enough cheer to shout,

"I want to see you kick a football, Sinead. If you're good you can be an honorary Holt!"

Sinead flinched, practically being dragged by Hamilton. This was going to be an absolutely rotten week, she thought, her eyes flashing.

_A/N_

_There we go! My first chapter! What do you think of the partners?_

_Please review telling me:_

_1) Your favorite part in this chapter_

_2) Does anything need improving?_

_3) Do you like chicken nuggets?_

_4) Your favorite 39 Clues pairings (Ex, Amian, Datalie)_

_I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading so far!_

_~Lovely_


	2. Dangerous Dan and his Whipped Cream Can

_A/N_

_Wow guys! Thanks SO MUCH for the reviews! :D I don't think you know how happy they make me xD I aspire to one day be a real writer, so I really enjoy all feedback, and the compliments DO make me want to update ;)_

_I'm going to try to reply to all reviews I get from now on!_

_In response to everyone's favorite couples: I might try to change it up and do something new. But to be honest, my fave couples are definitely Amian, Datalie, and Hamead, or whatever their proper names are xD Still, I am very much open to other things, so we'll see where this goes. And I try not to do things that are cliche, or have been done a million times before, so the end result might still surprise you._

_I'd like to also point out that none of the Rosenbloom's, and also Evan (MOST LIKELY NOT EVAN, still not 100% sure yet...) will be in this story, because it takes place between the 1st and 2nd series._

_Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!_

_Random: I DID NANOWRIMO. I FINISHED IT :D_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues. If I did, I don't think I'd have a job babysitting kids that throw crayons at me and like to lock me in the closet..._

CHAPTER TWO: Dangerous Dan and his Whipped Cream Can

**~Natalie~**

Natalie and Dan seemed to be the only ones left in the house, unable to agree on anything to do.

It seemed absurd that she could be paired with Dan. It was obviously the worst pairing in the world, in her opinion, seeing as even the other couples that seemed rocky had left. She didn't know where, but they were somewhere doing something, not sitting in the kitchen yelling at each other while half of the pairing was eating whipped cream... (Obviously not Natalie.)

Everything Dan wants to do is vulgar! Natalie thought. She was NOT open to any of his ideas, as many of them had something to do with toilet paper, Nerf guns, and just plain toilets (Like his idea of seeing how many tacos it would take to clog the pipes in Amy's bathroom toilet). It was quite unsettling. And in turn, Dan was very opposed to the idea of going shopping, which Natalie needed to do. It was her shopping day of the week. She didn't want to break routine because of Dan.

"How is it that I get stuck with YOU?" Natalie complained. "There were so many other names in the hat..." She said, almost wistfully. Even a meat-head Holt would be better then DAN. "Which, by the way, was quite a hideous hat." She added, feeling that she had to.

"Look, Natalie, if you don't want to do anything FUN, why don't you just LEAVE?" Yelled Dan. Natalie cradled her head in her perfectly manicured hands, a massive Dan-induced headache coming on. She took a deep breath, trying not to immediately kill the boy. Though that might be fun.

"I'd leave if I could," She hissed. "But your sister is MAKING me stay. Besides, it's your fault, YOU pulled MY name out of that ugly hat!"

There was a pause, then: "Oh, no." Dan said quietly, narrowing his eyes and brandishing his whipped cream can like a weapon. "You did NOT just say this is my fault." He pressed the whipped cream can threateningly closer to Natalie. "I'll use this!" He warned. "I'll ruin your Pranga dress!"

"It's Prada!" Natalie yelped. "And don't touch me with that thing!"

"We're going to do what I want then." Dan said, deadly serious. "ALL day." Natalie hesitated, and Dan pressed the nozzle on his whipped cream can ever so slightly, white foam spritzing out the top.

Natalie gulped, then agreed to his terms, seeing no other way out. But she was already planning revenge for whatever he was going to make her do, sure that whatever it was would be gross... Tomorrow morning, she vowed, SHE would be in the position to be making threats, and she'd make sure there was no whipped cream around. But for now... Natalie sighed dramatically.

Dan grinned evilly, and told her one of his many master plans.

**~Hamilton~**

Hamilton was driving his dad's car, and Sinead was sitting shotgun. Hamilton bit his lip and turned right down the street. He had no idea where he was going, and Sinead made him nervous. She was wearing dark sunglasses that hid her eyes, and the rest of her face looked blank.

Hamilton was a SPORTS guy, not a GIRL guy... He had no idea what to think of Sinead, and what to talk to about with her, and he'd changed his mind. Surely this really WAS the worst pairing. He wished Amy had picked a giant family sporting event or something, and not... Whatever this was supposed to be.

"What exactly do you want to do this week?" Hamilton blurted suddenly. "I can't think of anything!" He added, feeling particularly useless. Sinead remained coolly apathetic when she replied.

"Hamilton, we both know we don't exactly like the same things. I really don't know- we have to find something down the middle of what we both want..." She frowned a little, concentrating. Hamilton frowned along with her. "I'm doing this for Amy," Sinead added, which kind of stung poor Hamilton. He hadn't really asked for this, either.

"Well, we're a team." Hamilton said, turning down another road with still not a clue of where he was going. He started viewing this situation from a sports standpoint, because it helped clear his mind and tackle his problems head on. "If we don't cooperate as a team, we can't win." Sinead didn't ask him what he was expecting to 'win'. "We're two halves and we've got to work together, you know, mesh." Ham hit a fist into the palm of his other hand. "We can do this. So what can we do?"

Sinead was confused at the mild sports talk. "This?"

"No," Hamilton shook his head. "That time I meant what can we do, like, right now. Know anywhere we could go?"

Sinead stared at Hamilton. "I thought you were already taking us someplace. If you don't know where you're going, why are you driving us around?" Hamilton shrugged.

"I thought I'd get an idea... By the way, do you have any clue where we are? Because I kinda don't really know..."

"What? I don't know where we are either." Sinead said. It was quiet a moment, and then that fully sunk in for Sinead and Hamilton at the same time. Hamilton pulled over, stopping the car at the side of the road. "YOU MEAN WE'RE LOST?" Sinead yelled.

Hamilton flinched when she yelled. He winced. Sinead unnerved him. She was CRAZY.

"Uh," Ham said. "I'm sure we can find out where we are." Sinead slumped into her seat, eyes closed. Hamilton knew her fast brain was already deciding the best plan of action.

Then suddenly, the car spluttered... And turned off.

**~Ian~**

To be completely honest, Ian was bored.

He'd been feeling pretty good about getting matched up with Amy. It was a golden sort of opportunity, set up by Amy herself. Even though Ian had been the last one left standing waiting for a partner. Not that it could be helped, it had been random... But still. It WAS an opportunity, but for the time being, Ian was bored. He'd spent more time in America since the clue hunt, but it was still a perfectly dreadful country in comparison to his own.

He'd seen far too many low-class fast food restaurants coming from the airport to the Cahill house for the social adventure. Ian shuddered to think of it.

Amy was being very technical about the whole thing, and actually seemed to want to make a list of things to do. In some ways, he almost appreciated that, because he was a well-organized individual himself. But suddenly he felt like he didn't know the first thing about Amy, and that made it hard to plan anything. Though he had to admit, the idea of a whole week were he was forced to be with Amy was intriguing. Or WOULD be, once they did something. But they hadn't come to any conclusions, and it was getting increasingly awkward and quiet. At least for Amy.

He thought about how during the clue hunt, he'd pretended to like her.

Now they were sitting outside Grace's (small, Ian thought) mansion. Ian wasn't so big on the 'outside' aspect, but whatever, that's where they'd gone, simply for the sake of GOING, because everyone else had. Or nearly everyone. Ian had immediately foreseen that Natalie and Dan probably wouldn't do a thing all week, because they'd be at each other's throats the whole time... He wondered if that might happen to him and Amy. It didn't seem likely though. Amy was too nice for that kind of fighting.

"So what do you want to do?" Amy asked politely. But she was terrible at lying, or in this case, pretending to still be cheery, which was kind of like lying. She clearly was nervous about being paired with Ian. He didn't respond, because he didn't have a response... Suddenly Amy perked up, for real. "I could take you to all my favorite places!" She cheered. "Around town, I mean." She beamed.

Ian wondered if her favorite places included a high-end coffee house. Because he was sort of in the mood for a chai latte. It probably didn't.

"Sure." Ian said, still bored. Attleboro was hardly a great city of America. (If there were ANY great cities in America...) He didn't even see how Amy could have favorite places to go in town... Nevertheless, he was so bored it would be good to do something, rather than sit in awkward silence again.

It was a nice day out, and suddenly Ian was struck by the thought that Amy looked very nice with the sun shining down on her like that. She was just so different from basically every girl he'd ever met- she was so mature, after all she'd gone through, and yet she had the ability to still remain so happy at simple things. It reminded him of during the clue hunt, when he'd been pretending to like her, and had knocked her out of harms way. He'd almost kissed her then, but he hadn't.

I was only pretending to like her, Ian thought.

"What?" Amy asked suddenly, self-consciously. "What is it?" She bit her lip, looking worried, and Ian realized he was staring.

"Nothing," He said easily, with a tiny smirk. Amy flushed a little.

And then they were on their way into town, but much to Ian's dismay, they went in a peasant-ly fashion:

WALKING.

_A/N_

_Thanks for reading! Now, please review telling me:_

_1) What would you like to see the pairings do? (Ex, I wanna see Sinead and Ham go bowling, and I wanna see Dan and Natalie go shopping)_

_2) How did you like the chapter? :)_

_3) Do you prefer long or short chapters?_

_4) Do you like vanilla or chocolate better?_

_~Lovely_


	3. Gravy Tea

_A/N_

_Thanks, so much, as usual for any reviews and constructive criticism :) If you'd like- I know I would ;) -continue to send in ideas of what you'd like to see the pairs do all week! I promise I'll credit you if I use your idea!_

_I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY CONFUSION: THE FOCUS **WILL** BE ON THE PAIRS AMY/IAN, DAN/NATALIE, AND HAMILTON/SINEAD. This is due to the fact that I don't feel I know Madison, Reagan, Ted or Ned, or Phoenix very well, though I know lots about Jonah. I am SO sorry to disappoint anyone!_

_This is completely random but expect some (mild?) Saladin-induced gore in the next chapters... xD xD xD _

_Disclaimer: What the fudge is wrong with you, of COURSE I don't own the 39 Clues, you... Uhmm... Camel. How could you assume such a dastardly thing? I FREAKING LOVE SALADIN (- That was random)_

CHAPTER THREE_: _Gravy Tea

**~Sinead~**

Sinead froze as the car shuddered off. "Did the car just stop?" She said, annoyed. Hamilton winced.

"Yeah..." He muttered. He tried the key in the ignition a few times, but got no results.

"Great, just great!" Sinead sighed. Without saying a word to Hamilton she climbed out of the car and opened the trunk. From still inside the car, Hamilton yelled, "Should I call my dad? Or a tow truck?" This really is the perfect way to start off the week, Sinead thought.

"No, no," Sinead waved Hamilton's question away like it was a draft of air. "I can do this myself, it's a simple re-wiring." Now Sinead really was waving her hands, as the car spewed smoke. Hamilton climbed out of the car, looking as useless as Sinead deemed him. Sinead had already slipped into a concentrated state, her quick hands tweaking wires and whatever else was under the hood of the car. Hamilton stood off to the side, frowning. He knew some about cars, but probably nothing compared to Sinead... Sinead sighed again, feeling somewhat bad for the Holt. "Hey, have any duct tape? We need a temporary fix here." Hamilton brightened solely at being acknowledged.

He made his way around the car and lifted the trunk, and Sinead could just see him through the windshield, rummaging through his family's possessions. He shoved past a bag of soccer balls and found the duct tape.

"Here," He offered Sinead, coming back around.

"Hold this," She instructed. Hamilton obliged, holding the car part- whatever it was- in place as Sinead duct taped it. Watching him from the corner of her keen eye, it seemed Hamilton thought that she'd accepted him. She rolled her pretty eyes, finishing taping up the wires.

"I've never met a girl who knows how to fix cars," Hamilton told her. He smiled conversationally. Sinead said nothing except,

"The car should work now." She climbed back inside it, and Hamilton followed. We still don't know where we are, Sinead thought. Oh well, I'll use the GPS on my phone, and if that doesn't work, I'll call Amy.

Sinead leaned over her phone, loose strands of hair coming out of her ponytail and tickling her face. "Ugh," She muttered. Sinead always wore her hair in a ponytail. Her bright red hair was long and always got in the way. The simplest way to keep it in check was to wear her hair back, and so she always did. She took her current ponytail out for a moment, intending to put her hair right back up. Sinead realized Hamilton was staring at her. "What?"

Hamilton blinked. "I, uh, I've never seen your hair down, that's all." He smiled. "It looks nice, you should wear it down more." It was a sweet thing for him to say, though Sinead didn't heed the words. Instead she stuffed her hair back into a ponytail as quickly as she could. She looked down at her phone again, and then at the clock in the car, which Hamilton had restarted.

"I know where we are!" Sinead exclaimed. "And there's a place nearby we can go for lunch."

As far as she was concerned, Hamilton could say anything sweet. But it was going to take a lot for her to forgive him and his family planting a bomb on her and her brothers... She shuddered, the scars on her arms still quite visible except for the fact that she always hid them beneath long sleeve shirts.

**~Amy~**

Ian had been completely against walking into town, but Amy insisted, as it was part of her favorite things in the city- the old buildings were lovely, and though Amy was shy, she was willing to fight for this, because she never could quite get enough of the wonderful place she called home.

"It's not so bad to walk!" She'd convinced Ian, and that was basically it.

Now they were walking, walking, walking, Amy in the lead, partly because she knew the way, and partly because then she didn't have to look at Ian.

The library was naturally the first stop. Amy loved the library. EVERYONE knew that. It wasn't too far from Grace's mansion, either. It was one of the first buildings into the city of Attleboro.

The library wasn't very special looking. It was definitely old, and sort of had that cracked, crumbly look to it. Amy didn't care what Ian thought when he looked at it- when she looked at it, she felt at home, more so in this library, or this place, than in any other. She climbed the familiar steps and hauled open the wooden doors, like she always did. Ian slid in after her.

Behind the old oak desk sat Mrs. Winchester, the librarian.

Amy loved her- she was the sweetest old lady in the world. She must have been at least 80, but she had tons of thick white hair, which she kept neatly piled in a bun atop her head. Mrs. Winchester loved Amy, too- most librarians loved Amy. She just had that genuine appreciation and want of learning, and all librarians like to see that in young people.

"Hi!" Amy greeted her. Ian stared skeptically at the old woman.

"How old is that lady? Has she reached the 2,000 year mark yet?" He muttered. Amy glared at him.

"Oh, Amy!" Mrs. Winchester looked up from her desk, where she'd been... Reading. With reading glasses, that she removed when she saw Amy. "I haven't seen you in a few days!" At this, Amy blushed. Mrs. Winchester said 'a few days' like it was a long time, because it wasn't too peculiar of Amy to be at the library 5 days out of the week. It was just really relaxing there, and during the summer, she'd take out a billion books. During the school year, she always had reasons to swing by, for this-or-that report, and sometimes she'd just stop in to say hi to Mrs. Winchester.

And especially after the clue hunt, it was just so easy to become immersed in books, to go someplace else, and forget for a little while everything she'd been through.

Amy was there a lot.

Ian raised an eyebrow.

"Hi," Amy said again. "How are you?" She asked the elderly woman. Amy knew that Mrs. Winchester had known Grace Cahill- they'd been friends. But for once, Mrs. Winchester was just a FRIEND- no ties to being a Cahill, or to knowing about the clue hunt or anything like that that Amy had ever discovered. As far as Amy knew she was just a nice librarian.

"I'm fine, darling." Mrs. Winchester looked at Ian and smiled, like she'd only just noticed him. "I've never seen you before," She said to Ian. Then she turned to Amy and asked, "Amy, is this your boyfriend?"

"What? No!" Amy said quickly. "This is Ian. He's... Uhm... A really distant relative." Ian smirked. Amy suddenly felt on the verge of a panic attack or something- of all places, why had she taken Ian here? She'd thought being in a place she loved so much would make her stronger, more confident. But now she just felt vulnerable while Ian's eyes scanned the room.

Mrs. Winchester laughed. "Alright, Amy, if you say so." Amy's face flushed an embarrassed pink. Suddenly Ian grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a bookshelf, away from the friendly but kind of oblivious librarian.

"What was that?" Amy asked him when he let go of her arm. Ian stared distrustfully out behind the bookshelf.

"That dinosaur was embarrassing you." Ian said. He paused. "And that's my job." He added. Amy looked horrified for a moment, but Ian rolled his eyes. "Kidding," He said blandly. "Look- why don't we go somewhere else? Not that this isn't... Nice." His sarcasm kind of stung. Amy frowned.

"Where do YOU suggest we go?" She muttered.

"There really isn't much to do here... But I suppose we could find a coffee shop."

"Fine."

As soon as they'd come into the library, they left, and Amy thought sadly that she hadn't even gotten to check out any books.

**~Dan~**

"Please explain to me how you find this fun." Natalie said loudly. "If you're going to prank someone, can't you at least use GOOD pranks?" Dan gritted his teeth, trying not to go insane.

First on his agenda was fixing all the doorknobs in the Cahill house- well not ALL of them, but a select few. And by 'fixing' Dan meant setting them up so that they would lock from one side- right now he was working on Amy's door, and it would have gone much faster if Natalie had been a better sport about it. Once Dan was finished, the next person to go in Amy's room- Amy, probably- would get locked in there. How did Natalie NOT see how beautiful that was?

"Amy will get STUCK in there." Dan said, with plenty of emphasis. "She won't be able to get out." Natalie looked at him blankly. Dan sighed.

"Let's move on, shall we?" He muttered. "I'll be nice and let YOU pick what we do next. Do you want to put itching powder in Jonah's sheets or plastic wrap Ian's toilet?" Dan fully expected Natalie to start yelling about how pranks were for babies, or something, or maybe even just leave and take a plane back to London or wherever she came from. Instead, Natalie smiled.

"If we have to prank someone, lets make it Ian. But come on, Dan- plastic wrap his toilet? It's got to be much worse than that." Natalie looked evil.

Dan liked it.

"What do you have in mind?" Dan asked, mystified. Natalie shrugged demurely, but that glint of evil was still in her eyes. Dan bounced up and down. "Tell me," he insisted. "Come on!"

"Okay, fine. We'll need to be sneaky- Lucians are naturally the hardest people to prank." Their victim would of course be Ian, and only Ian, seeing as he had demanded to stay in his own room and not share. (Which he always did at mandatory meetings with the Cahills in Attleboro. He didn't have to share his room, like Dan had to share with Hamilton.)

They went about gathering the necessary supplies, all of which they found easily in the house. It was an odd list, but Dan for once didn't question it, extremely curious to see what Natalie had in mind. The list consisted of pins, a pair of scissors, food coloring, gravy granules, and some weird looking things that Natalie got from her own room. They sort of looked like candies.

The first thing Natalie instructed Dan to do involved some of the things already in Ian's room. They'd sneaked upstairs, though if anyone was home, they paid them no mind, and Ian himself was out with Amy.

"Wow," Dan commented when they'd pushed open the door to Ian's room. The room was one of the many empty rooms in the large house. But what made him say 'wow' was the impressive display of items like snacks and drinks, similar to a display you'd find in a hotel room.

No wonder Nellie always complained about being stuck with room prep duty.

"First," Natalie said in a commanding voice, "Poke holes in the bottoms of the water bottles." Dan frowned.

"Won't they just leak everywhere?" Dan asked. Natalie rolled her eyes at Dan, her body language telling Dan she thought him to be a pranking amateur, which was pretty upsetting to poor Dan.

"No," She said with a sigh, like Dan was a small child, "If the cap is on, the water stays in the bottle. As soon as you unscrew it..." Natalie demonstrated, holding a bottle well away from her. The second she opened the seal on the cap, water began spraying out of the holes. Unsure of what to do with the now-leaking water bottle, Natalie simply threw it out the open window. (Which Dan found kind of hilarious.)

They poked holes in all the water bottles, and next, Dan wanted to know what the gravy granules were for. Dan didn't even know what gravy granules were... But they'd had them in the kitchen, probably on account of Nellie's weird cooking habits.

"So what do we do with this?" Dan asked, eager to know.

He watched as Natalie picked up a box of fancy, expensive-looking teabags from the pile of stuff Ian had requested for his room. Natalie looked regretful as she cut small slits into the teabags and dumped their contents into the trash. "A waste of good tea," She murmured. Dan rolled his eyes. Next Natalie filled each teabag with the gravy granules. Dan's mouth fell open.

"Gravy tea! Awesome!" He held out his hand for a high five. Natalie hesitated, but actually gave him one. (It wasn't very good, though.)

They STILL weren't done- Natalie proceeded to use the food coloring on the bottle of soap in the bathroom. Now Ian would get blue staining soap all over his hands when he went to wash them. And finally, Natalie's took out her 'candies'. Except they weren't candies at all.

"I call these cracklers," Natalie explained. She peeled the wrapper off of one. It revealed a small, electronic ball with a tiny screen. Natalie pushed a button and the screen lit up. "I had these specially made. Their purpose is to make loud noises- good for diversions. These, however," And she leaned close to Dan, like she was telling him something incredibly important, "-have set timers."

"So...?" Dan said, urging her to get to the point.

"Say I set this for 1 AM and we hide it in the room." Natalie grinned again, still looking evil. "At 1 AM, the crackler will made a horrendously loud noise." Natalie demonstrated and set a crackler off, giving Dan a good sense of why she called them cracklers- they made a loud CRACK! noise when they went off.

Dan grinned. Natalie was pretty good at this pranking thing. They set the cracklers all over the room, and cruelly setting them all for different times during the night. Ian would get no sleep.

"THAT," Natalie said as they left the room, careful to make it look undisturbed, "Is how you prank someone." And grudgingly, Dan looked at Natalie with admiration, because as unlikely a pranker she was, she was an amazing one.

_A/N_

_Thanks for reading, as usual, and reviews are appreciated!_

_1) What was the best prank you've ever pulled? (If you haven't pulled many, what a prank you've always liked?)_

_2) Was this like way too long? If you liked the length please say so_

_3) Who have you liked the focus on best so far- Amy/Ian, Hamilton/Sinead, or Dan/Natalie?_

_4) What is your favorite book or book series?_

_~Lovely_


	4. The Romance Department

_A/N_

_I am sitting in my room applying too much chapstick and crying because I love you reviewers so much. Thanks a billion!_

_I quickly would like to point out -again- that any suggestions yall have given have been noted, and some, worked into my plot :D I shall give credit when I come to use them! You guys have great ideas- keep sending them in :D_

_THIS STORY TAKES PLACE IN THE SUMMERTIME. YEAH._

_Disclaimer- Don't be upset, but... *leans close and whispers* I don't own the 39 Clues, so killing Evan is STILL out of the picture... But have faith, and arm yourselves with Natalie-quality poisons! Tolliver will go down if I get my way! *Insane laughter* (OH AND I DON'T OWN MCDONALD'S xD)_

CHAPTER FOUR: The Romance Department

**~Natalie~**

Natalie was getting a bit peckish. It was lunch time, after all... It had been a few hours since the initial pairing of everyone, during the morning. Natalie was also ready for a break from Dan, though that wasn't going to happen. Ever since she'd taught him how to properly prank someone, he'd been tailing her around, and he was quite bored, which he made evident.

"We should like... DO something." Dan suggested with a sigh. They were currently in the living room of Grace's mansion, still the only ones at the house, it seemed. Everyone was just gone, even the adults.

It depressed Natalie that they all had places to be, but she didn't, stuck in this miserable excuse for a mansion with Dan Cahill.

"You come up with something, you're the one who insisted today was your day." Natalie said, annoyed. "I remember you brandishing a can of diabetes at me as a threat."

"It was just whipped cream! And who says 'brandished'?" Dan muttered. He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up. "But fine, you're right. It's MY day- I pick what we do, so..." He paused, then brightened. "I know! Lets go get some lunch." Natalie nodded, relieved. Partly because yes, she was hungry, but also because it was kind of horrifying to think of what else Dan might want to do for fun on 'his day'. "I'm thinking McDonald's." Dan added dreamily. Natalie flinched.

"Can't we go someplace less... Disgusting?"

"Nope, I pick what we do today."

Natalie clenched her teeth as Dan pulled on his shoes and headed for the door. She followed, her high heels already on her feet. Natalie swore yet again that she'd be the one in charge tomorrow. Or maybe today, if she couldn't stand whatever else Dan threw at her. McDonald's? Seriously? Natalie sighed and closed the door behind her. This day... Well, it kind of got worse and worse. Pranking Ian wouldn't be fun until Ian actually fell victim to the pranks they'd set, so that was ruled out, and the rest of what they'd done in the morning was just bicker, basically.

Would Natalie survive the week? I can, she thought grimly, like a soldier going into war. I will.

Dan glanced at Natalie's shoes and immediately called a taxi to pick them up. Natalie was somewhat offended- she was amazing in heels. But the prospect of walking, to MCDONALD'S, no less, was gross, so she didn't complain, even though the taxi was quite poor-person-standard.

The ride, thank the good lord, was short enough. Dan threw money at the driver and told him to keep the change, and climbed out of the car. He raced around to the other side and opened Natalie's door for her.

"My lady," Dan said. He bowed dramatically, his tone sarcastic. Natalie didn't mean to, but she giggled. Oops- her giggle turned into a cough, but Dan had heard it... Natalie peeked at him and he was smiling triumphantly. She rolled her eyes.

"Do I really have to go in there?" She asked Dan, stabbing a finger at the McDonald's building. She was absolutely revolted- American fast food... That was the kind of stuff in nightmares.

"Yup," Dan said cheerily. He waved her in, holding the door open for her patiently. Natalie figured that Dan figured if he was going to get a burger out of this, he'd behave. Sighing heavily she entered the 'restaurant'. Inside, there were a few people milling about, some coming in for their lunch breaks. Natalie and Dan sat down at a sticky table.

Natalie's appetite was gone.

Dan was surveying the menu above the ordering counter from were they sat, and he was doing so rather intently. Natalie suddenly noticed how pretty his eyes were. They were the perfect shade of green, bright, with just the tiniest hint of blue. When Natalie realized what she'd been thinking she shuddered, and assumed this evil mass-chain-corporate-fast-food-place was making her go crazy.

"I'm thinking extra large big mac, large fries, large coke." Dan nodded, like he was saying a scientific fact or something. Natalie wrinkled her pretty nose. "What do you want?" Dan asked her.

"Nothing," Natalie said, her stomach turning. "No, wait- I'll have a diet coke."

"Diet?" Dan asked skeptically. "Diet is gross. It tastes like a terrible version of... Non-diet."

"I've never had NON-diet coke." Natalie said, rolling her eyes. "Do you know how much sugar is in soda?" Dan looked like this was the apocalypse.

"So let me get this straight. You have never had a regular coke? Like, ever? Not ever, ever, in your whole life ever? NEVER?" Dan asked, his admittedly-pretty eyes widening like he truly could not believe this. Natalie frowned, not sure Dan's grammar was even correct.

"Never." She confirmed.

"Well, that settles it. I'm getting you a coke." Then Dan was up and ordering his ridiculous amount of food, and a regular coke for Natalie, because apparently, it was some kind of vicious sin not to have ever tried one.

**~Ian~**

The nearest coffee shop was a teeny tiny one, sandwiched between a bookstore and a hair and nails place. Ian noted Amy looking longingly in the windows of the bookstore as they passed it, and he sighed. Did that girl ever stop reading?

"We can go in there later," Ian promised her. He said it nicely, too. Well, kind of. In truth, Ian felt slightly bad about being so clipped before, making them leave the library... Amy looked surprised at his promise, but she nodded.

Inside the coffee shop, it was deserted except for a worker behind the counter. Ian was relieved to see some quality-looking espresso machines in the back. Ian didn't hesitate to order his specialty drink, already sure of what he wanted. He rattled off all the necessary notes about his drink to the girl behind the counter, with an easy air about him. The poor girl looked flustered, and hurried to start making his drink. Ordering was an art- an art Ian had perfected.

"What do you want?" Ian asked Amy.

"Hot chocolate, please." She replied. Ian laughed, and Amy looked almost as flustered as the coffee worker girl.

"Who orders hot chocolate in the summer?" Ian asked.

"Me," Amy muttered. Ian decided yeah, whatever, let Amy get what she wants, and he ordered for her. But he thought it rather ridiculous of the coffee shop to even have hot chocolate in the warmer months of the year. A few minutes later their drinks were ready, delivered personally to their table by the coffee girl, even though it was an at-the-counter kind of place, like a mini Starbucks. She seemed to have recovered from her earlier clumsiness and smiled flirtatiously at Ian before going back to her post behind the counter.

"So Amy, how are things?" Ian asked nonchalantly, like he didn't really care for an answer. In truth he was interested- Amy was like a puzzle, a puzzle which simply being a Lucian didn't help him solve... Ian wondered what kind of an answer she'd have to the simple question. He stirred his coffee. Then he thought to add something else- he smirked and added, "How are things in the romance department?"

Amy looked up from her hot chocolate, blowing the top of it because it was so hot. "What?" She said, confused.

"You know, like... Got a boyfriend?" Ian said, with only a trace of sarcasm. He didn't think she did, but it struck him how much it would bother him if she said yes.

"No." Amy frowned at her hot chocolate, though Ian knew it was him that bothered her. Not the hot chocolate. "Why do you ask?" She added. Ian smiled.

"Just... Wondering." Ian's gaze wandered and he suddenly noted a giant sticky-bun-cinnamon-roll type thing in a display case, and realized he was hungry. It was sort of a well-guarded secret of his, but Ian loved cinnamon, and cinnamon rolls were the only sticky-peasant food he ever ate... He simply called the coffee girl to bring it over, and he paid her at the table. She batted her eyelashes at him. Ian had that effect on girls.

Ian plucked two forks off of a rack right next to them and handed one to Amy. Amy smiled slightly.

"You know how to share?" She joked, feigning surprise, and stabbing the dessert with her fork. Ian rolled his eyes, but he smiled a little, too.

Amy had that effect on him.

**~Hamilton~**

"Left turn, and we'll be there," Sinead told Hamilton. They were driving to the nearest restaurant, a diner that had come up in Sinead's GPS scan of the nearby area. Sinead was telling him where to go, but Hamilton was still relieved to be the driver. It was hard being around Sinead- she made him feel inferior, even though he didn't think she meant to.

Hamilton pulled into the parking lot of the diner, and he and Sinead made their way inside. The inside wasn't very full, but the people there all seemed to be middle aged. Hamilton wondered why. He smiled suddenly, remembering something.

"When I was little," Hamilton said, though by all means, in his whole life he'd never been little, "My dad would take me and Madison and Reagan to these places. And we'd always beg to sit at the counter, on the spinny chairs." Sinead frowned.

"Why?" She asked. Hamilton wondered suddenly in Sinead was like, a martian.

"WHY?" He echoed loudly, attracting some stares from elderly people. "Because it's FUN!" He ushered Sinead into one of the chairs and he sat on the one next to her. Hamilton used the counter to propel his chair into circles, grinning like it was the most fun thing in the world. Sinead wasn't spinning, though, and Ham wondered if she needed to loosen up a bit. And I guess she doesn't like all those old folks staring at us, he thought admittedly. He stopped spinning. "So, uhm, what do you wanna order?"

Sinead raised an eyebrow at him. "I think we need a menu first." She told him. Hamilton sighed.

"Yeah, that makes sense." He said. At this, a waiter with a scarily huge smile plastered to his face came up to them, leaning on the counter.

"How can I help you today?" The waiter asked. He looked like he was probably 17 or 18, and he was a gangling, skinny guy with wire-rimmed glasses. When he spoke he directed his voice only to Sinead, and he leaned in towards her. Sinead leaned back.

"Could we have some menus please?" Sinead asked, trying to be polite despite his obvious horrendous attempts at flirting with her.

"Of course," He said. His name tag proclaimed him as 'Roy'. Roy leaned even closer to Sinead. "Anything for you." At this, Sinead was obviously uncomfortable. She looked like she was between just ignoring Roy the obnoxious waiter, or straight up decking him in the face. As much as Hamilton would have liked to see Sinead punch Roy, there was no need to get things all riled up... Ah, Ham thought wistfully. Riled up.

From behind Sinead he shot the waiter his best impression of his dad, Eisenhower's death glare. For the first time, Roy actually noticed Hamilton, which was quite a feat, considering how tall Hamilton was. Poor Roy. He must have really liked Sinead. Roy gulped and backed off.

"Sorry," Roy said hastily to Hamilton. "I didn't realize she was your girl. I'll just- I'll just get the menus." Roy muttered, running off. Hamilton laughed.

"'Your girl'?" Sinead said skeptically. But her face slowly grew a grin. "Thanks. That guy was kind of creepy."

"No problem," Hamilton replied, feeling proud to have done something right by Sinead. Roy seemed to have switched waiting on Hamilton and Sinead with another waiter, who was a friendly woman that gave them their menus immediately. "So, do guys hit on you a lot?" Hamilton asked curiously. "I mean, am I going to have to fend them all off from you for the rest of the week?"

Sinead smiled again, still seeming reluctant to do so, though. "I can take care of myself," She told him. Hamilton believed her. She was tall- not nearly as tall as him, but still pretty tall- and she had nice, lean muscles, which Hamilton appreciated.

Hamilton ordered a burger and french fries, and Sinead ordered a tuna melt. Their food came quickly enough, which pleased Hamilton, because he was quite hungry. (He was kind of always hungry... But still.) Hamilton glanced at Sinead and asked her,

"Don't you get hot in those long-sleeve shirts?" It was summer. How did she survive? Hamilton wondered. At this, Sinead's face fell.

"Scars," She said apathetically. Hamilton gulped. Idiot, he scolded himself. He'd felt the scars on her arms before- during the clue hunt.

"I'm sorry," He blurted. "I didn't mean to say that. It was stupid." He hesitated, trying to think of something else to say. It was Hamilton's fault Sinead had any scars- Well, partly. He was a Holt, and team Holt had planted the bomb that caused her and her brothers to be hospitalized and to have surgeries. "I mean... I am sorry. For the whole thing. It shouldn't have happened."

Ned and Ted were currently still struggling. What Hamilton had heard was that they were making plans for some healing surgeries, but the damage had been done. Looking at Sinead's pretty self, Hamilton was glad that she'd been spared. Well, besides the scars. The stupid part of Hamilton wanted to ask to see them... But how unsympathetic would that be? Ham kept his mouth wired shut.

"We can't change it now," Sinead said simply, and Hamilton knew she was right.

_A/N_

_Well that end was depressing... Sorry. xD Imma try to update as much as I can for yall, though, you know, reviews might speed the updates ;)_

_1) Favorite part of the chapter?_

_2) Which restaurant-ee did you dislike more- Creepy Roy, or the unnamed fawning coffee girl? xD_

_3) Favorite band?_

_4) What object is directly left of you right now?_

_I LOVE YOU ALL_

_~Lovely_


	5. Hamilton's Diner Dance

_A/N_

_Thanks to all reviewers! _

_SERIOUSLY WHEN I GOT TO 40 REVIEWS I WAS SITTING IN MY ROOM LIKE "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" (I got SO excited!)_

_Y'all make me _**LOVE YOU**

_Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who took the time to review, especially those who have reviewed all the chapters so far :D It means so much to me :D _

_Now can I just say... This chapter has a really weird end? xD_

_Disclaimer: I'd like you all to know that I don't own the 39 clues... Did you know the website told me I'm an Ekat? o_O They must be on drugs over there then, cause if I'm smart, then I fear for mankind. xD I'm a Janus, I think. I'm much more musically inclined, than like, math inclined, and I love to write. (I also sketch...)_

CHAPTER FIVE: Hamilton's Diner Dance

**~Amy~**

"What now?" Ian asked Amy.

They were done their cinnamon roll and Amy had no clue what to say; she felt that her initial idea of going to all her favorite sites was a bad one, and had sort of been squashed, anyway. There was still one place she had in mind to go, but that was something to do later in the day, not just after the lunch hour...

"I don't know," Amy said, feeling defeated. In an attempt to raise her own spirits, she added, "But there's tons of stuff to do all over the city. Like... We could go to Capron Park."

"Capron park?"

"It's a zoo." Amy told Ian. Ian looked absolutely horrified, so going to the zoo was so not an option. Amy sighed. For a while it had almost been nice to be in Ian's company. Sometimes Ian wasn't so bad- but being not around him still sounded better than being with him, on account of the fact that he made her so nervous. It was hard not to start picturing everything that had happened in the clue hunt when she was around him. Really, it was hard not to do that with most Cahills, but Amy had plenty of history with Ian, including once saving his life.

She wasn't trying to be a hero when that had happened. Amy just did what she felt was right, in the moment. Still, she wondered if that ever came up in Ian's mind. Did any part of him feel like he owed her? Probably not. He was a Kabra, after all... Amy had spaced out. She shook herself back to reality.

"Want to go to that bookstore?" Ian suggested, pointing out the cafe window. Amy flushed slightly, somehow pleased that he'd remembered he'd said they could go in there.

"I'd like that," She said. Suddenly, the outside's bright sun disappeared in a matter of seconds. Raindrops began to fall lightly, splattering the sidewalk. They increased dramatically within seconds- the rain came down in torrents, completely ruining the nice coffee shop setting. Even the girl who worked there seemed surprised, looking up from her phone, where she'd been texting non-stop. (Well, besides whenever she stole a few glances at Ian.) "Summer showers." Amy said with a sigh. Ian frowned.

"Reminds me of London." He commented. Amy giggled.

"It'll blow over soon," She promised. They waited. Ian drummed his fingers on the tabletop impatiently. Minutes passed.

It did not blow over.

Ian looked at Amy. "Run for it?" He suggested. She nodded. They burst out of the coffee shop, leaving the coffee worker to stare longingly at Ian's fleeing form. Amy and Ian were drenched within seconds, and they pelted into the bookstore, dripping.

"Ugh," Ian said, disgusted by his own rain-dripping clothes.

Amy shivered, cold now from the combination of rain and the air conditioned bookstore. Unlike librarians, bookstore owners and workers sometimes aren't so friendly... A man with the bookstore's name on his t-shirt glared at Amy as she dripped onto the carpet.

"Right... Let's go to the history section," Amy suggested. She went quickly, nervous under the glare of the worker. She fairly fled there, trailed by Ian. Amy was acquainted enough with the store to know where the history section was. She'd been here a few times with Grace, and her shoes made splooshing sounds as she went.

Feeling helpless, Amy stopped in front of the bookshelf that was the history section, and squeezed her wet hair. Drops rained down on the carpet. She hadn't felt this absurd at her own state since the clue hunt, when she and Dan had been dirty or wet in public places, well... A lot. Ian caught up to her, and he was, surprisingly, laughing.

"Here." Ian brushed the hair out of Amy's face with his hands, then ran his fingers through it to shake the water out. Amy stood there, paralyzed for a moment while he was so close. She risked looking up for about half a second, and as always, was unnerved completely by his amber eyes. Amy's feelings for Ian were mixed- right now they were a swirling puddle, like the puddle of water on the floor the two of them were creating. Amy didn't feel like sorting out her feelings right now.

That sounded hard.

"T-thanks." She mumbled. She flinched at the sound of her own stuttering, brought out only by Ian. It was still raining heavily outside, and Amy could hear it in the background, through the quiet murmurings of the people around her in the bookstore.

Ian grinned. "You're welcome."

**~Dan~**

Natalie was far too suspicious of the coca cola. Dan stared her down.

"That drink was a dollar," He proclaimed to Natalie. "Don't waste it." Natalie glared at him before finally taking a sip.

"It's..." Natalie started.

"Glorious?" Dan suggested. "A delight to your taste buds? Amazetastic? Sent straight from God? AWESOME?" Wow, Dan thought. I really do have a soda addiction... Natalie shrugged.

"It's okay." She said nonchalantly. Dan slumped back in his seat sadly. Natalie laughed at him.

Dan chomped away at his food. He offered Natalie some fries like, 6 times, but she always said no, so he gave up. Outside, it started to rain, which disappointed Dan. He was starting to think of a lot more places he could go with Natalie. He needed to teach her what FUN was... He glanced at her from behind his big mac. With it raining outside, the things they could do reduced drastically. At least to Dan- he was an outdoors kind of guy. (Besides when he was playing video games.) Dan thought darkly, Natalie's probably HAPPY that it's raining.

"So listen," Dan said, finishing off his burger. "It's raining." He pointed out the window to exercise his point. Natalie opened her mouth, probably, Dan thought, to complain that she wasn't stupid and that she KNEW it was raining, but Dan cut her off. "I'm thinking that we head back to the house, then. Y'know. Cause of the rain."

"And do what?" Natalie asked. Suddenly Dan's eyes widened. Someone he knew- and didn't like very much- had entered the building. Dan sank down in his seat, trying to look smaller. "Hello?" Natalie asked, waving a hand and looking annoyed at Dan's sudden unresponsiveness.

"We were just talking about leaving," Dan said quickly. "SO- Let's leave. NOW." Dan shot out of his seat like an arrow, abandoning at least 13 french fries, which was very un-like him, and gestured for Natalie to get up, too. Natalie didn't- instead she turned and saw what Dan saw. Dan's eyes hardened at the sight of the person- Will Goldmin, his enemy.

Dan had known Will since 3rd grade, though Dan wished he didn't know him at all. For starters, Will was good looking- and he knew it, too. Dan was starting to get a grudge on good looking people. Were they all demonic? (Seriously, Ian and Will... And Natalie, kind of.) Mostly, though, Dan hated Will because he picked on the smaller kids. He was a jerk- and yet all the girls at school fawned over him. Dan wasn't big on girls, but... Well, he WAS teenage boy, and though he rather suffer death than admit it, girls weren't as bad as he made them out to be.

"Who is that?" Natalie asked, and to Dan's relief, she didn't sound very impressed.

"He's just... A jerk." Dan hissed. It was evident that they weren't leaving; Will had noticed them, and was now checking out Natalie. Dan had toughened up immensely since the clue hunt- he could take Will. But that didn't exactly mean he wanted to. Now that it was summer Will and his other popular jerk friends were easier to evade, but Dan didn't see a good way out of this one.

"Hey." Will smiled at Natalie, coming over. A friend of Will's shadowed him- Tommy Becker. Dan rolled his eyes. Tommy was a jerk too, and he was a real wannabe. A second-class popular. "I'm Will." Tommy didn't even attempt to introduce himself, Will already having made it clear that this girl was 'his'.

Natalie gave Dan a look like, 'Why is this peasant alien talking to me'? A bubble of admiration and laughter rose in Dan. He was immensely pleased that Natalie wasn't taking a liking to Will- maybe that doofus would learn a lesson. Natalie sighed like this was a chore.

"I'm Natalie." She said. Will smirked, like he'd already gotten her number or something.

"Why are you with Dan Cahill?" Will asked her, genuinely confused. Tommy laughed in delight. "He's not cool. I remember this one time, he set the class rat loose in Science. Nearly gave the teacher a heart attack... Poor Mrs. Dellworth. Anyway, but seriously. Why are you with Dan-o?"

That nickname. Dan LOATHED it. His happiness evaporated.

"That was like 5 years ago!" Dan said, over and past just annoyed. "Get lost, Will." Will's eyes narrowed.

"Think you can tell me what to do?" Will said, leaning in. His clothes were speckled with rain. He was bigger than Dan- dumber, too, probably, but that might not help Dan if Will decided he was in a punching kind of mood. "Cause you can't." Will snapped. He turned back to Natalie. "Was that little creep bothering you?"

Natalie scowled. "No, he wasn't, actually. But YOU are." Natalie sniffed. Will looked extremely confused. This must have been a new experience for him. Tommy just looked like this was the apocalypse, his mouth actually agape with surprise. "Why don't you just leave?" Natalie said, accompanying her words with a candy-sweet smile. She flipped her dark hair. Ha! Dan thought. Will's never had a pretty girl diss him like that!

Will still looked confused. "Well... Uh, catch you later, then." He said to Natalie. He frowned slightly and shot a little glare at Dan. "Bye, Dan-o." Will grabbed Tommy and they left the McDonald's- Dan saw them ducking in the rain, going into the Burger King across the street. Dan laughed, overall just happy they were GONE. Total losers, he thought. He turned to Natalie.

"That was great," Dan said. "...Thanks."

"No problem. I don't like guys like that."

They were quiet for a moment, Dan unsure what he was supposed to say. "Thanks," He said again, meaning it. "Let's go home now, in case the rain gets worse."

**~Sinead~**

Sinead felt like there was a bubble of pressure growing between her and Hamilton, and surprisingly, she really didn't like it. It was just illogical; they were only on day one, and they had to spend a week of their time together. Sinead didn't really like that, either, but what was she supposed to do?

She was nearing the end of her tuna melt, and Hamilton was stone-silent. He looked almost comically solemn, and Sinead could feel that he meant it. She'd probably come across rougher than she'd meant to. Her scars were just... A touchy subject. No one she knew could understand the way they made her feel. They were reminders of what she and her brother had been through, and they were just... Ugly. She couldn't wear t-shirts anymore, lest she show her scars, and she dreaded the idea of going swimming. What if she had to? What would she wear then?

Sinead was knocked out of her thoughts by a text. She pulled it out and read it, and was glad that she'd been sent the text, because now she had something to say to Hamilton. The text was from Fiske Cahill. Amy and Dan's uncle- Sinead and all the other Cahill's had his number in case of emergencies, or in the case of social adventures, notices.

Sinead nudged Hamilton lightly. "'All Cahill pairs are to congregate back at Grace's mansion for dinner at 5 o' clock tonight. To encourage partnership this message has been sent to only half of the Cahills'." Sinead read aloud. There was also a smiley face at the end, which made Sinead wince, picturing Fiske sending out that very literate text then adding a smiley at the end.

"Oh," Hamilton said, sounding almost dazed somehow. Then he nodded. "Sounds good." He looked down at his plate, which was empty, and Sinead wondered if he was somehow hungry again already. Sinead's own plate was almost empty, and she didn't think she wanted the rest of her sandwich. She'd had enough.

Sinead saw Hamilton's somewhat thoughtful expression and sighed. She felt like there was a block between them. She was going to have to get over her own insecurities, like the scars on her arms, and she was going to have to get along with Hamilton.

"Hamilton, don't worry about the scars or anything anymore. Okay?" Sinead said rather pointedly. She brushed a stray red curl out of her eyes and tucked it back into her ponytail. Hamilton looked surprised, and like he wanted to put up a fight, somehow. But he sighed, too.

"Okay, Sinead." He replied. Sinead felt her heart stir when he said her name, and she didn't know why. Hamilton hesitated, then smiled. "We've got some time to kill before 5." Sinead's watch told her it was a little after 3; they'd certainly taken their time to eat. It was probably the awkwardness between the two, she reasoned. "So what do you want to do?" Hamilton asked.

Sinead paid the check and wordlessly handed it to their waitress, who had just swung by. Sinead simply nodded her head in thanks, and stood to leave with Hamilton. Before she could answer his question, their waitress said,

"Come back soon now, y'hear?" The waitress smiled cheerily, and Sinead couldn't help but smile back. Hamilton stood to leave, too. Suddenly loud music overcame the quiet, oldies music that had been playing before. It was another old song, but the volume had definitely been cranked up, and when it came on, all the elderly people in the room began to cheer, including the waitress. "UP OUT OF YOUR SEATS!" The waitress hollered.

Hamilton looked at Sinead, bewildered.

The elderly people- most of them- all swung out of their booth tables and began to dance to the music. They all seemed to know their dance quite well, and they went at it with a lively spirit, while the elders still seated clapped in time.

"WHAT just happened?" Sinead asked, her eyes wide. The waitress swung by in a dance move and yelled,

"Join us!"

Sinead was still bewildered, but Hamilton was grinning now. "Diner theme song!" He yelled. Hamilton got up and started dancing with the oldies, trying to keep up with them, and making up moves when he couldn't guess what happened next. Sinead burst out laughing at the ridiculous scene, swinging her feet in time to the music from where she sat on her spinny chair.

"Come on!" Yelled an old man. "Get up and dance, girlie!" Sinead blushed slightly, shaking her head.

Without warning, Hamilton shot towards her and pulled her out of her seat and onto the makeshift dance floor, between booths and tables. Sinead reveled in how stupid this was, unable to control her laughter, and for once, let herself go and enjoyed it. She danced with Hamilton until the song ended, and they collapsed into a pile of laughs.

_A/N_

_Four for you, reviewers, you go reviewers! xD_

_I'd love it if you let me know:_

_1) Your favorite part in this chapter_

_2) If you spotted any mistakes, (grammar or spelling or anything OOC) could you please tell me? I'd appreciate it a lot and I'd fix it :)_

_3) What branch are you?_

_4) Burger King or McDonald's? xD_

_~Lovely_


	6. Locked In

_A/N _

_Hey everybody... I don't really know how much I like this chapter. I wasn't sure exactly how to orchestrate it... Ah, well. Please tell me if you think it's okay. And thanks SO MUCH for your continued support, your reviews make me squee in excitement and happiness._

_Disclaimer: Dear world, please watch as I yet again painfully mention that I do not, and will not ever own the 39 Clues... D: _

CHAPTER SIX: Locked in

**~Ian~**

He was going to kill Dan. KILL him.

One of the many things Ian despised absolutely was PRANKS. They were vulgar- they were immature and often disgusting. And yet this was SO much worse than Dan pouring pepper in Ian's soup- because this had the mark of Natalie on it, too, which was horrifying. Dan must have converted her or something.

All Ian had wanted was to go to SLEEP. But NO. All night those confounded cracklers were going off in his room all night, making sure he didn't get an ounce of sleep after his day with Amy and then the mandatory dinner back at the house. That was Natalie- those cracklers. He couldn't believe she would do such a thing, stoop so low as to PRANK him. Though her work did show a bit of Lucian, the cracklers having been strategically placed...

In the middle of the night Ian had tried to find as many cracklers as he could, so that he could get some sleep, and those he found he chucked out the window into the flowerbed. (Where for some reason, there was also a water bottle?)

Ian was sure that wasn't all they could have done. He was smart enough not to touch anything else besides his clothes in the morning. He was going to personally make Dan and Natalie take out anything else that was rigged the room... Grumbling and trying to ignore the unsightly bags under his eyes, Ian got dressed and marched out of the room, intent on murdering Dan Cahill.

Still, Ian figured he'd better check up on Amy, first. She might not appreciate attending Dan's funeral... Ian sighed and made his way to Amy's room. He glanced at his watch- it was about 8 AM. Ian paused in front of Amy's door, snickering at it. It was mostly plain, but in some places there were clusters of stickers. Some were Egyptian Maus- Ian shuddered at them. That creepy cat Saladin was an Egyptian Mau, and that cat hated Ian's guts.

Ian knocked, and in a moment he heard Amy say,

"Come in!"

Ian poked his head in.

He hadn't really seen Amy's room before- just the outside door. Taking it in, it was somehow a mixture of minimalist and little girl- The furniture and walls were plain in a very classy way, actually, but the rest of Amy's stuff looked sort of 8-year-old. Ian grinned, momentarily forgetting the prank horrors he'd endured.

"Oh! I thought you might be Sinead," Amy said, surprised to see him. She was still wearing her pajamas, it appeared. Just a t-shirt and pajama pants. Her red-brown hair looked a little messy. She smiled hesitantly at him. "Oh- come in." She added, and Ian obliged, shutting the door behind him. Ian remembered his reason for coming in, and frowned slightly. Amy's eyes widened, and she blurted, "You look terrible!" Amy put a hand over her own mouth, realizing what she said. "S-sorry. You, uhm, you just look a little... tired."

Ian raised an eyebrow at her. "You can thank Dan for that." Ian explained Dan and Natalie's prank, and Amy grimaced.

"That's terrible... Don't worry, I'll make sure it never happens again." Amy slid off of her bed and headed for the door. Ian was about to suggest something harsher than just 'making sure it never happened again', (Penalty of death?) but Amy reached for the doorknob and turned it. Nothing happened. "What?" Amy muttered. She tugged at the door handle. Nothing, stuck. She wiggled the knob and tried again, then again, but to no avail. Amy looked at Ian, confused. Ian shrugged.

"Let me try," He told her. Ian tried to, but the door was stuck, locked somehow. Amy's eyes hardened, recognition of her brother's handiwork.

"I am going to KILL Dan." Amy said.

They were locked in the room.

**~Natalie~**

Natalie was up, in her guest room, that she unwillingly shared with Sinead Starling. But whatever, Sinead was pretty much always AWOL, as she'd come in late last night when Natalie was already asleep, and had been gone earlier in the morning than Natalie had gotten up. (What? It wasn't as if Natalie had slept very late. Besides, one needs her beauty sleep, right?)

Now Natalie was ready. Her plan was set in action; today there would be NO threats from Dan. There would be no pranking, and there would be no obnoxious teenage boys, and thank the good lord there would absolutely be NO McDonald's, or any fast food for that matter. Natalie casually slipped on a bracelet. It was beautiful, actually a gift Natalie's mother had given her once. No matter that she wasn't in touch with Isabelle any more; a gift was a gift, and it had rightfully been given to her.

But this bracelet was special. It was filled with Natalie's favorite weapon by far. That is to say, poison.

Natalie admired poisons for many reasons. One, they were so versatile- there were poisons that made a victim sleep, or become paralyzed, or even caused death, though Natalie had only a small reserve of that and only for the utmost of her own protection. Two, their effect ranged so widely. She had hundreds of poisons in her stock, because of how strong and weak they were. (For example, Natalie had 17 different sleeping poisons, all varying in the time they made the victim sleep.) Three, they were so... Clean. A simple in and out, no blood or anything horrendous like that. And finally, four, they were absolutely posh in a way that they could be powder slipped into a drink, or liquid directly into veins. They were easy to carry and conceal as well, and thus, for all of these reasons, they were simply the BEST.

Natalie's bracelet had an ornate crystal rose in the center. All Natalie had to do was press two certain petals and a spike emerged from the center of the flower, ready to inject whatever poison she'd chosen to fill the bracelet with. Today was just what she suspected would scare Dan the most- a favorite of hers. It effected the part of the brain that knew truth from lies- the conscience, if you will. And then it caused the victim to start spilling all of their secrets- unable to stop themselves from telling what they were truthfully thinking about this-or-that. Natalie was sure it would scare Dan into action.

Yes- no McDonald's for Natalie!

Natalie glanced in the room's vanity mirror one last time, but of course, her makeup was still as perfect as it had been when she'd applied it earlier. She rose from her seat and headed for the door, grabbing her Gucci purse on the way.

"Time to go shopping with Dan," Natalie said aloud, and she grinned.

**~Hamilton~**

Hamilton did his usual morning warm ups quickly, a few push ups and crunches and whatnot. He was outside, and the sun was already blazing, the rain from yesterday evaporated. His dad, Eisenhower always said getting up early and doing some stretches outside was good for your soul... Or body, or whatever. But today, he was kind of eager to see Sinead again. He liked her- she had spirit. He could imagine her being a good lacrosse player or track runner.

Hamilton smiled when he thought of dancing at the diner. He'd succeeded in loosening her up a little, on just day one. They'd had some time to kill after that, but they kind of milled about until it was dinner time and they went back to the house. Ham had kind of lost her then- the dinner was more of a whole family type thing, so he'd hung out with Jonah and Dan for a little while and Sinead was somewhere or other and he'd waved at her once.

What're we gonna do today? Hamilton thought. Sinead was rooming in the guest house, so he made his way over there. He paused at the door, not sure where Sinead's room was... Sinead had mentioned she was rooming with Natalie, but he didn't know which room. Still, Ham trooped inside, looking around. In surprise he saw Sinead right away, typing away at a laptop computer in the living room off to the left.

"Oh, hey Hamilton." Sinead said coolly, though she looked a bit surprised to see him, too. "What's up?"

Hamilton stood awkwardly in the doorway. "I came by to see what you wanted to do today." He said. Sinead glanced at her computer screen and bit her lip in momentary concentration. She typed something quickly, her fingers fairly flying over the keyboard. She looked back up at Hamilton.

"Already? It's only 8:30." Sinead murmured. She hit one more button, the power one, Hamilton assumed, and she closed the laptop. Hamilton froze, feeling weird. Maybe he HAD come by to early? But Sinead stood anyway and brushed out the wrinkles in her shirt. Today she was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with a t-shirt on top of that, and plain jeans. It was unlike Hamilton to notice or care about people's clothing, but his face burned a little when he realized he was checking her out.

She really was pretty.

"I just thought..." Hamilton muttered. He turned to leave. "I'll just come back later, then." With his back turned, Hamilton reached for the doorknob. He heard Sinead laugh.

"No, I'm up, aren't I?" She said. "It's fine." Sinead stood with her arms crossed, and Hamilton made his way over to her, extremely relieved, somehow, but rather embarrassed.

"So... What do you want to do, then?" Hamilton said. There was a pause as Sinead considered this question, her eyes flashing as if she was working out some kind of problem in her mind, or really analyzing Hamilton's question. "You hungry?" Hamilton said suddenly. He had a glorious vision of bacon and eggs and maybe a glass of orange juice, realizing that he hadn't eaten breakfast yet. Sinead frowned slightly and plopped back down on the sofa. Hamilton followed her example and sat, though it was much less gracefully than her.

"Not really." Sinead said. "Is it okay if we do something besides... Eat?"

"Uhm... Yeah!" Hamilton said with fake enthusiasm. He smiled, too, though his stomach rumbled.

"Great," Sinead said. "I was just thinking we could play some chess."

"Chess?" Hamilton asked, widening his eyes. He bit his cheek, wincing internally. Maybe he really shouldn't have come by so early. Sinead looked happy enough, setting up a game board on the coffee table. Hamilton sighed. For you, Sinead, he thought, and he sat down to play a game of chess.

_A/N_

_Thanks for reading! If you'd like to review, I'd love if you answered these questions!_

_1) DO YOU READ MY AUTHORS NOTES? (Be honest, you won't hurt my feelings, I promise xD But if you do, I really appreciate it lol, and I try not to make them too long!)_

_2) Was this chapter alright? D:_

_3) Chess or eating? xD (What kind of question is this? xD)_

_4) How was your day? :D_

_~Lovely_


	7. ALMOST Out the Window

_A/N_

_I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the few of you I've been conversing with through PM's... You know who you are :D_

_Here's a short poem for the reviewers. I apologize for the quality of it (or the lack thereof xD)_

_Roses are red,  
__Violets are blue  
__I LOVE REVIEWS  
__AND THEIR REVIEWERS, TOO!_

_^The worst poem in all existence?_

_Disclaimer: I apologize for not owning the 39 Clues. The ownership to the 39 Clues, among many other things (A unicorn, a secret stash of 100% healthy gluten free cookies, a Prada/Pranga dress) is just something I don't think I'll ever get my hands on..._

CHAPTER SEVEN: ALMOST out the window

**~Sinead~**

Sinead was actually pretty patient when it came to teaching.

Sinead knew some of the members of the Ekaterina branch weren't very patient with this kind of stuff. But hey- when you're brilliant, it can be easy to look down on others who can't hold a light to your knowledge... Still, Sinead had, especially in this last year, adapted a different way of looking at it. Now she found it much more satisfying to teach someone something rather than walk off in an annoyed huff, though she did still do that sometimes...

She tried not to, though.

And thus, Sinead was as patient as she possibly could be while attempting to teach a Holt to play chess. (Which wasn't turning out to be an easy task.)

"No, Hamilton, pawns can only capture diagonally." Sinead instructed. Hamilton frowned, looking for all the world as if this was Hell.

"But... They can only move forward, you said. Right?" Hamilton said, real confusion crossing his features. Sinead moved his piece back to its proper place, a small sigh escaping her mouth.

"Unless they're capturing an enemy."

They were both quiet for a moment, Hamilton not attempting to make a move. He looked at Sinead from across the table, a look similar to a puppy dog's on his face.

"Maybe we could do something else?" Hamilton asked, and to Sinead, it sounded suspiciously like he was hiding desperation in his tone. Sinead tapped a finger to her lips, thinking, thinking, thinking. There was a way she could teach him the true excellency of this game- Surely. But what that method might be was escaping Sinead, though she wasn't yet ready to give up on Hamilton. She knew he could do it if he tried. Suddenly the puzzle pieces clicked into place, and Sinead beamed, an idea sparking up in her mind.

"Hamilton, what's the most important thing to have when you're playing sports?" Sinead asked him.

"Muscle." Hamilton said, like 'duh'. Sinead sighed.

"Fine- The SECOND most important thing...?" She said, hoping Hamilton would get it. Hamilton frowned at her, like he didn't understand her question. Then he, too, brightened as he realized what she meant.

"Strategy." Hamilton replied. (Though Sinead still suspected his strategy was probably just always 'WIN' or something like that.)

"Right," Sinead granted. Hamilton beamed happily, and Sinead shook her head slightly, somehow still surprised at how such small things could make him happy. She thought back a moment to the day before, and a light blush swept across her cheeks when she thought of how he'd gotten her to dance in the diner. "So the thing is- You're looking at this wrong." Sinead indicated towards the chess board. "Chess is a game of strategy. Pretend you're playing... Soccer. You've got a whole team here, and you're the coach. You're in charge- you decide how to play your game, using..." She looked up at Hamilton, her eyes urging him to finish her sentence.

"Strategy," Hamilton said again, filling in her blank and grinning. Hamilton directed his gaze to the chess board once more, willing to give it another chance. He hesitated, then moved one of his knights and captured Sinead's castle. "That move was okay, right?" Hamilton asked, making sure he'd moved his piece properly. Sinead couldn't help but smile at him. He was LEARNING things... Exciting.

"Yup," She confirmed, and Hamilton let out a 'woot' of triumph. From that point on, Hamilton improved drastically, though once or twice he still needed Sinead to help him remember which piece did what and went where. Their morning slid away surprisingly quickly, and Sinead thought it funny how Hamilton just wanted to play game after game. (Every time she beat him, that is.)

After game 4- which Sinead won, surprise surprise- Hamilton began to complain that she was a Lucian strategist and not an Ekat. Sinead laughed, resetting the board for one last game.

Sinead decided she'd let Hamilton win this time.

**~Dan~**

Natalie had decided to wake Dan up at a disturbingly early time for it being summertime- that is to say, 8:45 AM. And she hadn't been very nice about it, either.

Instead of just maybe pounding on his door or even setting off a crackler, Natalie had decided she was going to bust into his room herself, pin Dan down and threaten him with a spiky, poisonous bracelet.

Dan got the breath knocked out of him, a very rude way to be awakened, for sure... Natalie was actually sitting on top of him, her knees pinning him into place, and a hard eyed glare on her face. Her long hair angled downward in a silky curtain, tickling Dan's face.

"What the HECK?" Dan yelled. "Get offa me, ya PSYCHO!" Natalie snickered and didn't move. Instead, she showed Dan a bracelet on her wrist. If Dan had cared about jewelry, he would have thought it was pretty. But he didn't, and there was a much more important factor to the bracelet than it's high-class looks.

A fine, small needle was coming the heck out of it, with a drop of some evil looking liquid at the end of it, and Dan was paralyzed under Natalie's amazing pin technique. (He thought offhandedly that some other time he might ask her to teach it to him. As long as she didn't use him as the demonstration...) Dan muttered in protest, trying to squiggle his way out from under her, but it was to no avail, and all his wriggling did was get his blanket to cover up his face. Natalie generously peeled it back, still smirking.

"I made myself a promise yesterday," Natalie said in a gleeful, almost sing-songy voice. "A promise that today, I'D be the one making the decisions and threatening YOU... So if you'd be so kind as to look at my lovely bracelet here, you'll learn that this is a special little poison that makes the victim announce all of their secrets... So tell me, Dan. Would you like to agree to doing what I want all day, or would you like to spill your deepest darkest truths?"

Dan glared at her hatefully, but he feared that he wasn't able to completely cover up his slight, teeny-tiny bit of admiration. Natalie WAS a psycho, but she had really outdone herself this time, with the whole scare the pudding-out-of-Dan thing. Dan gulped, not in any way wanting to admit his 'deepest darkest truths'. Dan narrowed his eyes.

"What exactly will you be making me do, then?" He asked, spitting his blanket out of his mouth again and trying to shake the hair out of his eyes. Natalie swept the hair aside for him, her amber eyes glinting.

"Is that a deal, then? You agree to do what I want?"

"You still didn't tell me what it IS that you wanna do..." Dan complained. Natalie ripped the blanket away from Dan's neck and pressed her hand to his skin. Her fingers were cold, and she angled her other hand so that the poisonous point was tipping towards Dan's exposed neck. "FINE!" Dan yelped. "I'll do what you want to do! Gosh... Now GET OFF OF ME." Natalie smirked in satisfaction, and she slid off of the bed gracefully. Dan sat up, wincing. "You're evil," He said.

"Not evil," Natalie said. She tapped a finger to her skull. "Just brilliant." She flounced out into the hallway, where she yelled back into Dan's room, "Hurry up, loser. We're going shopping!"

She really IS evil, Dan thought mournfully.

**~Amy~**

"Hold... On... I almost got it..." Amy bit her tongue in concentration.

"I hope so," Ian responded with a snort.

Really, this day hadn't started off so well, and it wasn't going so well now, either. Because Amy was half out of her window, trying to get a signal on her cell phone.

It had started when Ian had come into her room. She'd been totally unprepared, and she wished that she'd asked who it was when she heard knocking. For some reason she'd just assumed it'd been Sinead, but no, it was Ian, and he'd seen her in her pajamas and her un-brushed hair. So that was kind of not the best way for Amy's day to start. And then there was the fact that Ian brought news of Dan and Natalie pranking him horrendously, which she was going to have to yell at Dan for, and NOW they were actually locked in Amy's room, also courtesy of Dan...

Ian was at the door, using Amy's school student ID card to try to open the locks. Amy was trying to get bars on her phone and had nearly her entire upper half out her window.

"What did Dan DO to this door?" Ian called, sounding resolutely horrified. "I've been trained to pick any lock with just about anything..." Ian sounded frustrated. Amy didn't respond, clenching her teeth as she could feel the strain in her arm. She was so close- so close to getting bars on her phone. Amy hardly ever used the thing, and she had it as more of an emergency-only thing. This definitely qualified as an emergency, but the signal was horrible, and no texts or phone calls were going through.

They'd been trying various methods of escape for about an hour now, mostly ideas of Ian's.

"Give it up," Ian called from his post. He sighed and stood. "There's no way out of here." He joined Amy at the window and she glanced back for a moment, seeing Ian't expression turning from grim to slightly amused. "I'm taller than you, shall I try to reach for it?"

Amy froze suddenly, disregarding his question. "Wait!" She yelled back to Ian. "I think I got a signal!" Amy was standing on the narrow sill of the window, making her about a foot taller than Ian. Ian stood on tiptoe, trying to see the phone. He rested his hand on Amy's back.

And Amy nearly fell out the window.

Maybe it was a combination of those two things- the precarious position she was in, and the sudden touch from Ian, but Amy screamed as she tipped forward, her heart beating quick and hard. Ian grabbed her just in time and yanked her towards him, and she tumbled back into him, nearly causing them to fall onto the floor. In the process, the phone slipped from Amy's hands and thudded to the ground outside and below, destroying any hope they'd had of contacting anyone.

Amy hardly dared to breath, shock vibrating through her at what had happened so quickly-a matter of seconds. She let out a slow breath and realized Ian was still clinging to her, like she might still fall somehow, his arms wrapped around her waist. Amy stared at the window she'd just nearly fallen out of, and in a quick stumbling motion, she pulled herself away from Ian.

"I-I'm sorry," Amy mumbled, her heart still in overdrive. "I d-dropped the p-phone." Amy was obviously shaken up. Ian looked surprised, too, but he got over it quickly enough. His mouth curled into a sneer.

"Great!" He yelled, sounding annoyed. Amy flinched. Ian turned away and she could no longer see his face. Hands shaking, Amy reached up and latched her big window shut.

"I'm sorry," She said miserably. She wanted to thank him for his quick reaction, but she didn't know how, and he sounded so mad. If she'd fallen... Amy shuddered, not wanting to know what the outcome might have been. Amy lived on the top floor of a three-story house, and she could have broken a good deal of bones if she'd fallen. Amy attempted a thank-you anyway. "T-thanks, Ian. For... Catching me."

Ian turned around, but his eyes were closed, like he was deep in thought. He sighed, and Amy realized that he must be deadly tired- from what he'd described he'd probably only gotten, collectively, 2 hours of sleep. Ian opened his eyes, and though he was tired, they were still as beautiful as always, that amber color unfailingly unnerving.

"Sorry for yelling." Ian said gruffly. "You just... Startled me." Amy wasn't sure how to accept the apology, so she nodded. She wondered slightly offhandedly if she should ask Ian if he wanted to take a nap, or something. She looked away from him, unable to bare his gaze.

For a long time, they were both quiet. Amy sat on the edge of her bed, and she counted the minutes it took for her heart to completely slow down, back to it's usual rhythm. Ian sat on the far side of the room, sitting at his post by the door again. He wasn't trying to open it, though. He was completely still, thinking, Amy assumed. Amy hesitated to speak to him, but all of the sudden, she felt terribly lonely.

"Ian?" She called softly. But he didn't respond. Amy crept up to his chair, scared to peek over at him. But she did, and Ian Kabra was fast asleep. In sleep, Ian looked so normal- like any other teenage guy. (Albeit a very good-looking one.) Still, he didn't look nearly as much like Ian Kabra, the super-rich, super-handsome and super-deadly British guy. Amy felt a blush spreading across her cheeks. It felt so intrusive, somehow, to have seen him asleep.

Amy sighed and tiptoed back to her bed, sitting again at the edge of it.

She imagined she could still feel Ian's arms around her.

_A/N_

_Good news, yall. I really like this story :D I just think that so far, I deem what I've written acceptable, and I seem to be quite motivated to write and update. Thanks so much to my lovely readers, subscribers, favoriters, and reviewers. You guys are just magical._

_1) Are you interested in me writing an AU Amian fic centered around Amy and the Kabra family? I have an idea..._

_2) Which part did you guys like best in this chapter? (Sorry, I love this question, I love seeing what you guys like!)_

_3) What song is stuck in your head right now, if there is one?_

_4) What was the last movie you saw? :D_

_Until we meet again... ;)_

_~Lovely_


	8. Late Lunch

_A/N_

_Thanks for your support :)_

_PS- I looked up what British people might call fireworks, but apparently, they just call them fireworks... xD I don't want Ian and Natalie to be Americanized, now do I? ;)_

_A NOTE ON THE IAN SEGMENT: Ian's dream was _**TOTALLY**_ inspired by the song 'Stronger' by Seabird. I was listening to it the other day and I was like, THIS REMINDS ME OF AMIAN. xD So if yah'd like, give it a listen, and you might see why I wrote this part the way I did. Lol_

_(Since I didn't update yesterday, here's a bit of a long chapter.)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues. Stop throwing tomatoes at me!_

CHAPTER EIGHT: Late Lunch

**~Natalie~**

Natalie was VERY disappointed in the fact that her stylish necklace's clock-charm, as well as Dan's beat-up Spider-man watch, told her that it was almost 3:00, and she could still count the stores she'd gone to on one hand.

NOT successful shopping... Even more so crushingly depressing, Dan's arms (where, of course, Natalie's shopping bags dangled), only held 6 bags worth of purchases. The stores here were dreadful, but Natalie had made their way into the classier part of town, so it wasn't TOO bad. Dan looked at her darkly, and she scowled, because he was most of the reason they'd been to hardly any stores. (In her opinion, not Dan's.)

"Five. Stores. Five stores, Dan. That's all we've gone to!"

Dan was spared from responding to her by his beeping phone. He grinned and willingly dumped Natalie's bags on the ground and dug around in his pocket, coming up with his battered phone. "From Fiske," He told Natalie as she glared at him for putting her bags down on the street. "It says there's a mandatory fireworks show tonight at 7:00." Dan imitated the old man's voice. "Be there or be square!"

Natalie sighed. More time cut off from her shopping.

Natalie clapped her hands. "Come on, Dan, pick up my bags. We have a LOT more stores to go to," She sneered at Dan, who muttered his complaints well loud enough for Natalie to hear. She locked eyes with Dan and tapped her bracelet meaningfully. Dan let out an exaggerated growl and followed the click-clack of Natalie's high heels as she walked down the street to the next store.

I wish I had somewhere to wear my new clothes, Natalie thought sadly. After the clue hunt... Well, she didn't like admitting it, but things had gotten harder for her and Ian. They hardly had ANY money compared to what they'd had before. And the disowning of their mother kind of cut ties with their father, too, though he'd called them... Two times since the clue hunt, maybe?

Without her parents, Natalie had WAY less places to go, especially in formal attire. This was the cause of her sadness. Suddenly, Natalie froze, a brilliant idea forming in her head. She turned back to Dan, and she was so excited with her own idea she felt like throwing her arms around him. (Though she did NOT.)

"Dan!" Natalie said, grinning. Dan sighed and pointed to a random department store close to them.

"What? Is this the store with your Steve Maddle boots?"

"It's MADDEN, and no." Natalie was too excited to care much about Dan mispronouncing one of her favorite shoe brands. (Even though he had a photographic memory, and was probably saying it wrong just to bother her...) "I just got the GREATEST idea. It's about closing the week out." Natalie smiled, and Dan looked at her like she'd really, truly cracked. "A party," Natalie said, her excitement still building and probably close to bursting. "We could have a fabulous PARTY! Instead of another one of your horrid babysitter's amateur take on a banquet, like last time..."

Natalie shuddered, remembered a burnt souffle, the cat, Saladin, attacking Ian in the middle of the meal, Dan putting an absurd amount of pepper into Ian's soup, and then having to listen to Ian's complaints about the cat attacking him, AND the peppered soup... ALL the way back to the UK.

Dan looked confused. "Au pair!" He yelled about Nellie. "I mean, legal guardian! And what do you mean, a party?"

"A PARTY," Natalie said with a 'duh'. "I'm thinking formal attire." Dan looked at her blankly. She sighed. "Black tie?" She attempted. Dan still looked confused. "FANCY." Natalie yelled, pronouncing the word slowly. "A fancy party!"

"Fine, I get it," Dan said, rolling his eyes. He didn't seem very excited. Natalie's own excitement faltered- she'd need Dan on her side to get this party. If she didn't, how would she get Fiske Cahill, or Amy, or whoever was in charge, to say yes? Having Dan on her side just sounded good to Natalie, so she used her wit and skills, something she did best.

She spun the idea of a party into something that sounded excellent to Dan.

Natalie started off with a tragic sigh. "Last time's closing event really was horrible... Just a bunch of food. How boring. Really, we just did that last night." Natalie looked meaningfully at Dan. "If we threw a party, there'd be music and dancing and party food and NOT burnt souffles or Saladin stealing the chicken wings off the table."

Dan considered this. "Party food?"

"Oh, yes," Natalie said, nodding her head. Dan smiled.

"I DO like party food. And oh my gosh, yeah- Those little mini wiener dog things? And like, punch? And chips with spicy chicken buffalo dip?" Dan sighed dreamily. Natalie didn't know half of what he was talking about, but she went on nodding. "And don't forget about the bacon." Dan added, still dreaming. Natalie wrinkled her nose for a nanosecond. She'd been unaware that bacon was a party food... Whatever. It was one according to Dan.

"It'd be excellent." She agreed. "If only we had permission." Natalie gazed past Dan, looking like a sad damsel in distress.

Dan smiled at her. "That won't be too hard. Getting permission, I mean... You convince Amy while I convince Uncle Fiske, later, at home. Deal?" Dan stuck out his hand, and Natalie shook it, confirming the deal. The corners of her beautiful mouth curled up into a radiant smile. She'd gotten just what she wanted, as usual.

For once, Natalie's excitement got the better of her, and her usual composure. "This is so great!" Natalie squeaked, and this time, she forgot to hold back. She threw her arms around Dan.

**~Ian~**

In Ian's dream, he was watching a fireworks show with Amy Cahill, and they were quite close to one another, yet they somehow still felt miles apart.

A huge red firework exploded in the sky above them, and in Ian's dream, the sparks rained down on he and Amy like glitter. Amy smiled shyly as glittery pieces of sparks speckled like stars in her hair. Instead of harming her they settled and made a lovely crown, though the spark's brightness was no match for Amy's eyes. They shone in the moonlight and the rainbow colors of the fireworks.

"I have to tell you something," Dream-Ian said, rather insistently for the mood and setting of the dream. Amy's head tilted slightly, her smile faltering ever so slightly, nervously.

"What?" She asked him. And Ian felt a pit of dread opening in his stomach, and it grew and grew, like it might swallow him. Ian forced the feeling back, and he moved closer, close enough that he could feel their arms and legs brushing. Dream-Ian lifted a hand and brushed her hair aside, the way he'd done the day before, in reality, when they'd been rained on and had gone into the bookstore. Sparks drifted down out of Amy's hair, and Ian leaned even closer, bringing his mouth to her ear.

He was about to tell her something monumental.

Just as Dream-Ian's lips parted, a loud noise, like a bang, startled him. He heard Amy say something, but it wasn't Dream-Amy.

Ian woke up.

"Saladin!" Amy was holding her horrid cat, that Saladin, and looking quite surprised... Ian grimaced, momentarily confused. He'd had such a strange dream- and whatever he'd been about to tell Amy he didn't even know himself upon waking up. Amy glanced over and saw Ian awake, and her eyes widened. "Y-you're awake," She spluttered. Ian wasted no time.

"How did that cat get in here?" He demanded. Amy looked slightly offended. Her hand brushed over Saladin's ears, and the cat meowed in it's peculiar way. Mrrp. Amy flushed brightly before answering, maybe the hardest Ian had ever seen her blush. Amy placed the cat down on her bed. Ian realized she'd changed her clothes, probably in the bathroom connected to Amy's room while Ian was asleep. (At least they had the bathroom while they were stuck in there...) Amy frowned, and hesitated to tell Ian,

"He came in through the window."

So THAT was why she was blushing. Ian scowled; he couldn't help it.

Almost directly outside of Amy's window, off to the right, there was a tree. It was tall enough that it's branches stretched up past the roof of the house by a bit, but Ian had ruled it out as a way of escaping much earlier, because the distance between the tree and the window was much too precarious. Not for a cat, though, and now it appeared that that... ANIMAL had managed to climb up the tree and come in Amy's room for a visit. The bang noise he'd heard must have been the heavy window shutting after Amy rescued her cat.

"I don't think you should go near the window," Ian grumbled in complaint. Suddenly his bad mood was caught off track as he remembered the sparks in Amy's hair, in his dream, and how lovely she'd looked. How lovely she looked... Well, all the time. Right now.

When he'd felt his own arms around her.

Ian felt confused again, and then remembered how harsh he'd been after Amy's little window stunt. He winced. "What time is it?" He asked Amy, who had a clock facing her bed. Amy glanced at it.

"Almost 3:00," She reported. I've been sleeping for a while, Ian thought. The fact that he'd fallen asleep at all in front of Amy was quite horrifying to him, but he brushed those thoughts aside. At least he felt a great deal better now with some rest... Curse Dan and Natalie, Ian thought. Ian was acutely aware of the discomfort of Amy, as it was basically rolling off of her in waves. He'd saved her, yelled at her, done a rubbish job of apologizing to her, then proceeded to fall asleep. In front of her. Ian racked his brains, really just unsure of how to deal with this situation. And that made it worse- the fact that he didn't know what to do. Ian hated that more than anything.

Beside Amy, Saladin's eyes fixed on Ian, and the cat hissed angrily. Ian felt like hissing back at it. He'd felt the claws of that creature before, and had no desire to feel them again.

Now he was LOCKED in a room, with Saladin, who hated him, and Amy, who also probably hated him.

Escaping the room suddenly seemed so drear a possibility that Ian felt like jumping out the window himself... In a last attempt, Ian's mind created one last plan, and he marched over to Amy's closet and opened it. Amy voice was flustered behind him.

"What are y-you d-d-doing?"

Ian didn't respond. He yanked a scarf off of a hook in the closet and went to the window. Opening it carefully, He stepped up and stood on the narrow ledge of the sill, as Amy had done before. Carefully Ian slipped his upper half out the window and threw Amy's scarf into the tree; a slight, hot summer breeze blew by and the scarf drifted with the wind, it's bright red color standing out against the light brown bark of the tree. Satisfied at least with this, Ian stood back, jumped down, and latched the window. If someone saw it...

Now what?

Ian was a Lucian, and sitting around doing nothing didn't suit him well. He realized, suddenly, that the feeling he'd had in his dream, the pit in his stomach, was what he was feeling right now. He could feel Amy's eyes on him, but when he looked back a her, her gaze shifted quickly. Ian glanced one last time out the window, and as it mocking him, Ian could see Amy's phone, screen up, and it was glowing with the message of an incoming text.

Ian's dream felt like it was mocking him, too. It played over in his head, and he hated it- he hated it because of how happy they'd been, in the dream. Him and Amy. And how close, and how he had been about to tell her something, but he didn't know now what that was.

Ian felt the pit of knots grow more complex when he looked at Amy, and a certain kind of horror dawned on him. Amy was making him feel that way... And he'd never felt like that before in his whole life.

Another thought popped into his head, thank the lord, and he rolled with it, because the prospect of sitting around in awkward Amy-induced silence (on his part, anyway) was just... Bad.

"Revenge," Ian said suddenly. He'd spoken into the silence of the room and Amy looked up from where'd she'd been petting her cat. Her head tilted slightly, like it had in Ian's dream, and he could see she didn't know what he meant. "Revenge," Ian repeated. "We're going to get back at Dan and Natalie for doing this to us. While we're stuck in here we may as well orchestrate something."

Amy hesitated. "I don't know, Ian..."

Saladin got up from his place on the bed and jumped down, stalking towards Ian with a murderous glint in his eyes. Ian narrowed his own eyes at the small beast.

"They deserve it, trust me," Ian said stiffly in response. "Now let's get something planned... But first, do you think you could lock the cat in the bathroom?"

**~Hamilton~**

Hamilton was celebrating his triumph over Sinead in their chess match Holt-style.

Which is to say, loudly, and quite adamantly. And after that diner incident, Hamilton seemed to have a thing for dancing.

Sinead shook her head, probably in wonder of his stupidity, Hamilton thought, but he just grinned, and finished the final lap of his victory dance around Sinead and the chess board.

"I can't believe I beat you," He said happily. He coughed, and added, as demurely as he could, "You played a good game, though." Sinead's face broke into a smile, and she glanced at her high-tech watch. Hamilton glanced at his own- at his request, they'd been playing a whole lot of chess, (Five games! He thought, bewildered,) and hours had passed since he'd initially come to see Sinead. It was just past 3:00.

A text made Hamilton's phone buzz, and he got a mandatory attendance message, much like the one Sinead had gotten the day before, and he showed it to her. The prospect of fireworks, as that was what the text message relayed, sounded quite exciting to Hamilton. He liked a good fireworks show- the last one he'd seen was at a soccer game in Italy last month. (Er, shall we say, football, as it's called over there.)

Suddenly Hamilton's stomach growled incredibly loudly- Sinead probably thought it was a vacuum cleaner exploding. She looked over at him, startled, her eyes wide.

"I didn't think it was humanly possible for a stomach to growl that loudly," She said. Hamilton winced, both at her tone and at his stomach. He hadn't been this hungry since he was in the 2nd Grade, and that jerk Arnie Beck had eaten his lunch... (Hamilton had certainly given that kid a good beating for messing with his lunch, but that hadn't exactly brought it BACK to him.)

"I AM hungry," Hamilton said. "I mean... We kind of skipped breakfast... Or at least, I did. And we kind of skipped lunch..." Sinead shrugged off his words, though she seemed mildly surprised. Probably that I'd skip breakfast, though Hamilton. He was surprised, too.

"Let's just go have a late lunch now." Sinead suggested.

"THAT," Hamilton said, with his great relief showing on his face, "Is the greatest idea you've ever had." He grinned again. "I'm thinking takeout." Sinead shrugged again, up for anything, it seemed. Hamilton wondered if Sinead even needed food at all. "Pizza?" He asked her. Sinead frowned in the beginning of her disagreement.

"Thai," Sinead said.

"Thai?" Ham repeated her word, incredulously. "I expected you to have better taste, Sinead!" Sinead rolled her eyes at him.

"Fine, whatever." Sinead said, mildly annoyed. "But plain cheese, please." Hamilton saddened, because to him, a pizza with no toppings was equivalent to a snowman with no features and no magic hat, or... Or ice cream without sprinkles. Still, he thought he was probably pushing it already, and he'd been criticizing of her Thai, (Ughh... Thai) and so he let it go and ordered a pizza.

They sat around a while, doing nothing in particular. Sinead was sitting upside down on the sofa, so that her legs stuck up against the place your back normally rests, and her back was where your legs normally are. Hamilton laid on the floor, bored, and trying to think of a topic. (He kept finding himself reliving his glorious chess victory, though, and that was pretty distracting.) He almost wondered if he should ask Sinead to play another round while they waited for their food, but then the doorbell rang.

Hamilton happily raced to answer it. He threw a wrinkly $20 bill at the delivery guy and wrenched the pizza box from his hands. He slammed the door and brought the pizza in. Ham watched as Sinead flipped herself around and re-tightened her ponytail, also yanking down her sleeves so that they were well past her wrists.

Hamilton was dying to eat the pizza, but something caught his eye- a glass display case in the side of the room, full of... Horror movies? Dan, Hamilton thought, because there was no way on earth those were Amy's, you ROCK. Grinning, Hamilton picked a certain specific movie out and put it in the disk player of the living room television.

"What're you putting on?" Sinead asked him, already well into her first slice of pizza. Hamilton grinned.

"You'll like it," Hamilton promised.

Poor Sinead.

She didn't like it at all.

_A/N_

_Just WAIT until you find out what the movie is... xD_

_1) Did you like this long chapter? :)_

_2) What school subject do you like best?_

_3) Would you rather Ian and Amy find a way out themselves, or be rescued by someone?_

_4) Do you have any songs you think go well with any pairings? (Ex, I think 'Stronger' by Seabird is a good Amian song)_

_PS The feedback I've been getting for an AU Amy/Ian fic was good. I think I'll start working on my idea, and I'll let yall know when I'm going to post the first chapter._

_~Lovely_


	9. The CHOPPINGS, Among Other Things

_A/N_

**NOTICE**_: I _**WILL **_be away for a few days starting tomorrow! So that means no updates for a few days. Please be patient with me- I have a bit of a life, you know ;) But, as last time, this chapter is extra-long. (Even longer than the last one!) I hope that makes up for it a little._

_Natalie's dress is one based on one I saw in a store... Gosh, I loved that dress. I'm poor, though. Natalie isn't. xD_

_ALSO: Thank you Beachbum999! Your review way back on chapter 3 was what gave me the idea for Ian and Amy getting revenge rather than taking the high road of forgiveness... xD Credit for that goes to you!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues or any of the characters, but this story is all mine... And I made up Sinead and Hamilton's movie. xD _

CHAPTER NINE: The CHOPPINGS, Among Other Things

**~Sinead~**

Why on earth anyone would like this kind of thing severely confused Sinead.

For starters, the movie even had a stupid name. 'The CHOPPINGS'? Seriously?

As the title proclaimed, it was a gory B-class movie full of... Chopping. There wasn't exactly a storyline to it. Not a proper one, anyway. Basically there was a mass murderer who preferred decapitation as his form of execution. Thus, 'The CHOPPINGS', and that was pretty much it. It was absolutely disgusting, no matter how fake it was. Sinead was on the verge of smacking Hamilton for putting it on. Especially while they were eating... Dear lord.

Sinead preferred movies with clever storylines. The kind of movies with subtle twists it takes a hawk eye to notice, with an ending so grand that it ties in all the complexities of the plotlines... And if it wasn't that, she sometimes liked movie renditions of classic books. Sinead also had a thing for romance movies, but that was a secret she'd take with her to the grave. Not even Ned and Ted knew that, and her face burned when she though of her secret.

Sinead flinched as yet another head went flying on-screen, and Hamilton, beside her, was grinning and cheering the killer along...

BOYS, Sinead thought in disgust. Her pizza turned in her stomach.

For the first time, oblivious Hamilton realized that Sinead didn't like the movie. They were well into it, now, and he hadn't noticed before. He frowned at her discomfort, which she tried to conceal when he spotted it. Sinead didn't want him to think that she was... Well, scared. Even though she kind of was. It really was amazing what they could do with a low budget and ketchup these days.

"What's the matter Sinead? You don't like it?" Hamilton asked, looking innocently confused. But a smile grew on his face; he couldn't help himself. "Are you scared?"

"No!" Sinead snapped back at him. She forced her gaze back to the screen, but she couldn't hold it, revolted at the fake gore. Hamilton laughed, but to Sinead's relief, he wasn't being mean. Teasing, yes, but not mean. "Ugh!" She yelled. "Come on, Hamilton. Just... Turn it off."

"I'll turn it off when you admit you're scared." Hamilton grinned.

Sinead considered this. Could she sit here and endure another, what, hour of this? She bit her tongue. NO, she definitely did NOT want to watch any more of this, and she already knew that, as stupid as it was, she was probably going to have nightmares about the film. I hate you, Hamilton, Sinead thought with a sigh. But she didn't really hate him, even if she still wasn't completely convinced that she liked him. It certainly was tricky to have to spend time with him.

"Fine. I'm... Scared." Sinead muttered through clenched teeth. "Now turn it off! We can do something other than waste our time watching this!" Hamilton's grin disappeared.

"Gee," Hamilton said, and Sinead didn't know anyone else who would have said 'gee', "I'm sorry. I didn't think you were really all that scared, Sinead. You seem so brave... I didn't think a stupid movie like this would bother you." He got up and turned off the movie, and a sigh of relief escaped Sinead's lips. Still, she felt oddly disappointed at Hamilton's words. She supposed he thought her a ScaredEkat now.

"Whatever." Sinead said, trying to channel sassy Natalie Kabra or something. But her 'whatever' was not convincing. Hamilton sat down again on the sofa, and she could feel his eyes watching her carefully.

"You know, it really is just a movie. Nothing like that would ever happen to you." Hamilton said. He looked serious. "You've got all the Cahill's- They'd protect you." He hesitated, like he might say something else, but he didn't. Sinead tugged her sleeves down absently.

"That's silly, Hamilton." Sinead replied. "I KNOW that stuff wouldn't happen to me... I mean The Chopper's attacks were really not very well planned... But still. That doesn't make it any less... Gruesome to watch." She felt ridiculous for being afraid of something like the movie. Hamilton smiled at her, this time in a very reassuring way. When he smiled, it was kind of crooked, and somehow it suited his face, Sinead thought, better than a straight smile ever could.

"Well, I'll never put on a movie like that again. I swear." Hamilton said, and he went right on smiling. His smile evaporated Sinead's absurd fears, and oddly enough, she felt like smiling at his promise, too, though she didn't.

"Let's do something else, now," She suggested. She and Hamilton agreed to go to the park for a little while. Sinead had been there with Amy a few times, and the duck pond was kind of cool, so there they went. Without any better ideas they walked there, it being only 10 blocks or so (Give a few, maybe) away. They were mostly quiet the whole walk there.

When they arrived, Sinead saw that the duck pond looked just as it had the last time. It was a very wide, but shallow, dip of cool blue water, ringed with swaying green grass that probably needed to be cut. The warm sun beat down on Sinead and Hamilton as they watched big, lazy ducks drifting through the water, their sleek bodies making v-shaped ripples spread out behind them.

Hamilton was comically excited by the ducks, and didn't hesitate to buy feed out of one of those little dispensers they have sometimes at parks and zoos and the like.

No wonder the ducks were all so fat...

Sinead and Hamilton took turns flinging the feed into the water, laughing as the ducks seemed to come alive with the slight sound of the feed hitting the surface of the water.

"They're so crazy," Sinead remarked, as the ducks pushed each other, bills darting into the water at a shot for food. "They're like Holts wrestling over that food." Sinead grinned, her mood so improved by the silly, almost mindless ducks, and the bright sunshine, which was radiating all around them, but still felt nicely warm somehow, and not too hot. The perfect temperature.

"Hey!" Hamilton said, but he laughed at Sinead's joke, too. Suddenly, Sinead's laugh died in her throat.

"What is that?" She pointed towards a little floating lump on the far side of the duck pond. It looked like a lump of black... Fur? Her eyes widened in recognition. "Wait... Hamilton- It's a cat!" She pointed, a pit opening in her stomach. The tiny cat didn't look like it was moving.

Sinead wasn't the biggest animal lover; but she'd always had a soft spot for cats, and it had been magnified, too, by Amy and Dan's cat Saladin in this past year. Sinead liked cats because they were so intelligent. You could see the understanding in their eyes sometimes when you spoke to them, and they were so interdependent. They could take care of themselves... Sinead liked cats, and her heart went out to the one who's form was limp in the water, except for the slight sway from duck-created ripples.

Hamilton must have liked cats, too, because in a moment, he had dived into the water, and with long, powerful strokes, he was heading for the cat.

**~Amy~**

They had it all planned out now.

They had a grand master plan, surefire ways to get back at Dan and Natalie. They'd talked it over, Amy and Ian, and though their plan seemed ridiculous, it was... Well, it was kind of really smart. Ian really was a Lucian- he knew what he was doing.

Now all they had to do was get out of the room.

Nothing could be set into motion until they left- and this fact furthered Ian and Amy's want of revenge. This isn't like me, Amy thought while they'd planned, but... Dan deserves to get a dose of his own medicine for once. And as time wore on, if Amy had doubts, they slipped away with the ticks and tocks on the clock, because being trapped was getting worse, as was her annoyance at Dan.

Amy was hungry- Now she'd missed breakfast and lunch, and she had no food in her room.

"Hey," Ian said suddenly. They hadn't been talking much for a few minutes after their final agreement of their master revenge plan. Some of the awkwardness had left the room when they had something to discuss, but now they were left with nothing, because Amy was sure they'd tried every route of escape, short of busting down the door, which Amy really didn't want to do... Except, she was wrong. There was ONE more way out... "The air vent." Ian said. A smile grew back on his handsome face, and Amy blushed as he smiled in confidence. "I can't believe I didn't see it before- that's our way out." The air vents led all over the house- and they would be just big enough for the both of them, even Ian.

There was a small problem, though.

The air vent was high up in the corner of the room, nearly at the ceiling. It was definitely odd placement, but Amy had never really questioned it before. Her home was a replica of Grace's old home- when they'd had it rebuilt, everything was installed just the way it had been before. Unfortunately, that meant some odd placement for things like vents, because the first Grace's mansion had been quite old and not all things put in right. Over time it had had some renovations, but there really wasn't a problem with the air vents being high up rather than on the floor, except for it's more quirky looks.

That and, of course, if you needed the air vent for escaping.

"How do we get up there?" Amy asked. Ian could stand on a chair, but the ceiling was high, and she wasn't sure he'd be able to reach the vent enough that he could pull himself inside it; after they pulled the grate off, of course. Another challenge. Amy frowned, and Ian snorted.

"Why, if I may ask, is the air vent up THERE anyway?" Ian asked, raising an eyebrow at Amy. Amy blushed and relayed the story of creating the house exactly as it had been before. Ian looked at her like she was insane, but he turned back to the task at hand. Though he wasn't smiling any more, he still looked quite confident, and Amy didn't feel like getting in the way of his plan. "We're going to have to pull off that grate. Do you think you could do that?" Ian asked, but it sounded more like a command than a question.

"Y-yeah," Amy mumbled under his intense gaze. "But how do I get UP there?" She repeated her question from before.

"Stand on my shoulders." Ian responded. Amy flushed, and Ian's eyes scoured the room; they landed on a set of metal bookends on Amy's desk. "Take one of those," He said briskly, pointing, "And beat the screws out of it." Ian pointed to the vent with these latest words. Swallowing hard, and not protesting even though she loved her bookends, she picked one up and walked over to Ian.

Amy was nervous about standing on Ian's shoulders. Obviously she was prone to falling, though she was quite grateful Ian didn't mention the whole window thing at that moment. Amy pulled over a chair, and, clutching the bookend, stood and went from the chair to Ian shoulders.

She held back a scream as he adjusted under her, slightly, bringing her closer to the wall. Ian's hands reached up and grabbed Amy's ankles to steady her, and Amy put her hands against the wall for support, hardly daring to move, the seconds passing slowly for her but quickly for Ian.

"Can you get a move on with it?" Ian asked calmly from below. He sounded steady, but Amy knew she probably wasn't exactly light.

"Oh- y-yes, s-s-sorry." Amy concentrated. The bookend had been a gift from Sinead... Amy brought it towards the corner top corner of the grate as hard as she dared in her precarious position. It made a pinging noise as the metal struck against metal, and she tried again. It was nicely bent now... But Amy had to get the screws out of it. Amy gritted her teeth and shoved the thin end of the bookend between the metal of the grate and the wall. She dug in, pressing hard, a sweat breaking out on her face quickly. She was panting. The screw came loose.

"Are you alright?" Ian called.

"Yes," Amy said, her teeth still clenched. She repeated her actions on the other side of the air vent, and it came loose, too. The heavy metal of the grate leaned downward now that the top screws weren't keeping it in place. "I got it!" Amy yelled, and she wobbled. Ian's grip on her ankles tightened. Suddenly, without warning the grate swung down completely, hitting Amy in the side of her forehead. She let out a sharp breath in pain, and the bookend slipped from her hands and clattered to the floor, narrowly missing Ian.

Ian heard her cry out, and he loosened his grip on Amy's ankles. Amy screamed, heading for the floor, but Ian caught her.

She'd fallen twice in the same day.

Amy was shaking like a leaf, seconds passing slowly. She found her voice. "Why'd you drop me?!" She asked shakily but insistently, still in his arms for a moment. Ian gently pushed her back onto her feet and stepped away from her.

"Because I knew I could catch you," He said easily. Amy reflected that if he hadn't dropped her, she probably still would have fallen, but taken him down with her. She winced, a sharp pain developing in the side of her forehead. Wordlessly Ian swept her hair aside, checking the spot she'd been hit. How does he know where the grate fell on me? Amy wondered, but then she could feel the awful warm trickle of blood running down to her eyebrow. She shuddered, staring at the floor.

"Is it bad?" Amy squeaked, eyes still trained downward.

"Not too bad," Ian replied with a sigh. "Come on." Ian took her hand and pulled her along with him to the bathroom, where he washed Amy's cut. The mirror showed her that it wasn't too deep, thank goodness, but it was certainly... Messy. Amy grimaced as Ian wiped the space above her right eyebrow carefully with a wet washcloth. She stayed mostly silent, though, as Ian helped her. She closed her eyes for a moment. She could probably fix herself up alone, but Ian said nothing, he just... Did it for her. Amy peeked open her eyes, but Ian was stoically concentrated on her wound. "Done," Ian said suddenly, and Amy realized that he'd put a bandage on the spot, with a folded wad of cotton beneath it.

"T-thanks, Ian." She said, the words barely more than a whisper.

"You're welcome. But you should stay on the ground from now on."

Amy realized he was joking, sort of, and she laughed shakily. Ian must have been better at heights than her. (Well, except for that one time on Everest...) She stood, trying in vain to get her legs to feel solid again instead of jelly-like. "Should we...?" Amy started, but Ian just nodded. She followed him out.

The grate was half off now, but there was no point in taking the rest off. They could slip through now, as Amy had taken care to break the top corners so that the grate hung down. She winced. Maybe that HADN'T been the best idea... She also sighed when she saw her now-bent bookend discarded on the floor.

"I'll go up first and pull you through."

Amy realized Ian was talking to her, but his words hardly registered.

"Oh, okay." She responded. She wondered how Ian would reach up to pull himself in. He brought a chair over and stood on it. Amy frowned, thinking it impossible for him to pull himself through. But she was wrong- Ian pulled himself up and through the vent quite gracefully, for a moment making it seem so easy. He was gone from her sight for a moment, but then his head popped back out, leading Amy to realize with relief that there had been enough room up there for Ian to turn himself around so that he could help her up.

Amy stood on the chair.

The distance between her and the air vent felt like miles, and she couldn't reach it, not even with the tips of her fingers. "Ian?" She said helplessly. He had been able to reach it... Ian dropped his arms down and his hands met Amy's. He pulled, and Amy's arms ached immediately from the tugging sensation. She could feel the strength of Ian's hands as he pulled, and he frowned ever so slightly as he did, concentration and effort a picture on his face...

It was really only a few seconds, but it felt longer. She shook Ian's hands off now, getting a good firm grip on the vent. Huffing with effort and scrambling not at all gracefully, Amy landed on her stomach with a thump inside the vent. The sound of her heavy breathing echoed weirdly in the vents, and the smell and taste of metal seized Amy.

The vent tunnel was wide enough for Amy to be down on all fours. She adapted to that position, as Ian had, facing her. "Thanks," She panted, and he nodded. The tunnel sloped downward slightly, then then widened and veered sharply to the right. Ian backed up until he was at the wider section and turned himself so that he was facing away from Amy.

"Ready?" Ian asked her.

For a moment, she nodded, then realized stupidly that he couldn't see her. "Yes," Amy responded. Ian crawled forward. Once, the thought of Ian on all fours in an air vent might have seemed funny, and completely ridiculous, but there he was, doing just that. Amy's head throbbed. Nope, she thought, following him closely. I don't think this is funny...

They followed the tunnel and it was straight for a while. Then they met a fork, the tunnel veering sharply right on one side and sharply left on the other. Amy closed her eyes, trying to imagine where she might be in the house. She wanted to try and get to the living room on the second floor- She knew for a fact that that vent was loose. Dan had done it by accident 2 months ago, when he was playing around with some light explosives. Amy sighed, remembering yet again that this was all Dan's fault. She smiled at the thought of getting back at him, but she needed to think now, to know which way to go.

"Which way?" Ian finally asked.

"Left," Amy decided, and all she could really do was hope that she was right.

**~Dan~**

Dan was mad at himself.

One minute he and Natalie had been planning a party; and then, a second later, she hugged him. HUGGED him. Natalie Kabra had leaped forward and HUGGED him, Dan Cahill.

The word was going nutso.

Natalie's dark hair was soft against his cheek, and it tickled ever so slightly. Surprisingly enough, Natalie didn't usually wear cloying perfumes. But up close, Dan thought, she smelled nice, like jasmine flowers. He was so shocked at her sudden willingness to hug him that he didn't move. Didn't pull away, but didn't hug her back, either. If he had been in his right mind, he would have shoved her away.

And that was why he was mad at himself. Well, partly, anyway.

He had stood there numbly, letting a Kabra get close to him. Of course, the second Natalie realized what she was doing, she'd ripped herself away, looking kind of horrified herself. But Natalie being Natalie, she shook it off, and entered a dress store. Gosh, Dan thought. She sure was taking a long time to try on that first dress. He had gone in, too, and now sat on a bench surrounded by Natalie's bags outside of the changing room. A salesperson was giving Dan sympathetic glances as he sat there, waiting, but he glared the worker down because of his bad mood.

He was mad, he knew, somewhere in him, not really because he hadn't pushed Natalie away. More likely he was mad because he'd LIKED getting a hug from her. And Dan was bordering and bickering on admitting this to himself and trying to convince himself that that was ridiculous and untrue. Either way, though, he felt like he'd gone insane.

Dan looked up, finally hearing the click of the individual changing stall's door.

"How do I look?" Natalie asked. This was a silly question, Dan thought, because he thought she knew how she looked already. Natalie was smiling triumphantly, and she flipped her hair.

Dan stared.

Her dress was white, with fine detailed trails of silver and gold sparkles as it's design. It went to Natalie's knees and it had a demure v-neck. Natalie spun around to show it off. The intricate pattern- particularly the gold part of it- brought out the flecks of gold in Natalie's dark amber eyes. Dan decided he hated himself more, because he was pretty sure that even he didn't possess the power to deny that Natalie looked... Gorgeous.

Dan winced.

Natalie apparently didn't need a real answer from him, or worse, Dan thought, she KNOWS WHAT I'M THINKING! But this was just paranoia. Dan relaxed a little as Natalie and her smirk and her fabulous, expensive dress all went back into the changing room. When Natalie emerged again, she was wearing her own clothes, and she breezed past Dan holding her new dress. Dan scrambled up to follow her, still lugging all her bags (he was going to throw them in front of a moving car if she didn't stop shopping soon, so help him) and he thought that now he'd never be able to be near Natalie without recognizing the smell of jasmine.

Natalie paid with a credit card, and she smiled happily as they left the store. Dan comforted himself with the fact that while beautiful people were beautiful, they were also evil on the inside. Surely Natalie was NOT an exception to this rule. Dan thought of the likes of Will Goldmin, and his nose scrunched up. He'd never actually LIKE Natalie. Not even as a friend.

"I expected you to be much more difficult today, Dan," Natalie said suddenly, sounding too much like a babysitter praising her charges. Natalie pulled a pair of sunglasses out of her purse, the only bag she was still holding, and flicked them on. She actually smiled, her tone losing the babysitter thing. "Thank you." She said, and she actually kind of sounded like she meant it. Dan wondered if it was the first time she'd said those words and meant them at all.

Dan shrugged.

"No problem, I guess. I mean it was a little boring. Or a lot. But..."

Natalie ignored him, and for the second time in the span of a few minutes, breezed past him, leaving him to follow in her jasmine-scented wake.

_A/N_

_*Lets out long winded sigh*_

_1) Did you like this chapter? (You better. I stayed up till 1:35 writing this, and I have to get up at 6:00 tomorrow ;P I'm REALLY sorry if there were a lot of mistakes because of this?)_

_2) Favorite part?_

_3) What is your favorite color? (Mine is black :D)_

_4) Would you rather be a cow or a chicken? xD_

_I love you guys! _

_~Lovely_


	10. Hope's Locket

_A/N_

_I am sorry for my absence. I was on a short holiday type trip with my family. You have no idea how big my smile was when I got home and saw that my review count had hit 120!_

_As an aspiring author... That means more to me than you probably can understand. Every piece of criticism and of praise is taken in voraciously o_O_

_Now: To those who wanted to know, I DO indeed read every single review, but I can only reply through PM's usually because I don't want the authors note to be too long :/ Sorry bout that. Also, nope, I have never watched Avatar the Last Airbender, lol. xD_

_Disclaimer: Even as I type Natalie drinking her cold tea, I do not own the 39 Clues, and I sadly never shall. If I did there would have been an alien invasion by book 3, probably. _

CHAPTER TEN: Hope's Locket

**~Natalie~ **

Dan had gone to find Fiske to start dropping hints that a dance for the end of the week would be fun.

Feeling mostly satisfied, Natalie sat poised at the end of the living room couch in Grace's house, alone. With Dan on her side, getting a party to happen would be a breeze... She flicked an invisible speck of dirt off a perfect fingernail.

After finding her amazing dress, Natalie had felt that, justly, it wouldn't be fair to try to shop for anything else... Anything else she tried on would just be eclipsed by the beautiful party dress. And she'd done a little shopping before that, too, so, and much to Dan's relief, Natalie thought, they had gone back to the house in a taxi. The tugging part of Natalie had wanted to drag Dan to get him fitted for a tuxedo or something classy like that (because, good lord, she KNEW he didn't already have one,) but he hadn't seemed up to it at all so she dropped the idea.

Dan...

A tiny bit of unease crept up on Natalie. Dan had barely said anything to her since leaving the last store they'd gone into, opting to sit quietly (very unlike him, she thought,) in the taxi ride. And upon arriving at the house all he'd said was that he was going to find Fiske, and while that made Natalie happy in some ways, he hadn't really invited her to go along with him, so here she stayed. He'd seemed rather gloomy.

Oh well, I don't care, Natalie thought dismissively. She wondered suddenly if she should find Amy and do her part of the convincing, but that just didn't seem to appeal to her right now... Natalie felt like watching tv while getting a hand massage or something of that sort. But that probably was not going to happen. She sighed. She could bother Amy later, at the fireworks show. It was only a few hours away, anyway.

Suddenly the front door, just in Natalie's sight range from where she sat, swung open, and Dan marched in. Whether she liked it or not, Natalie felt a teeny weeny itsy bitsy little bit of relief, relief that his mood seemed to have lightened again. He wasn't smiling but he didn't look at all upset about anything. Dan Cahill, Natalie thought with an eye roll, and his mood swings. She greeted him with a get-right-to-it question.

"Success?" Natalie asked him. Dan hesitated before answering her.

"I think," He said. "Uncle Fiske said it's alright as long as Amy says it is, but also that he'll have to get volunteers to set it up. Amy will be easy to convince, though. She's a sucker for this kind of stuff." Dan rolled his eyes, the way Natalie had only moments before. There was another pause, and then Dan said, quite suddenly, "What do you want to do now? We have some time before the mandatory fireworks." He wrinkled his nose at the word 'mandatory', as if he couldn't believe he'd just used it. "I mean..." Dan frowned. "I don't want you near me with that poison stuff." He glared suspiciously at the bracelet Natalie still wore on her wrist.

She'd almost forgotten it was there.

"Oh!" Natalie said. She tapped her fingers on her knee, thinking. Dan seemed like he had something to hide, more reserved or something than usual. She grinned at the thought of using the poison on him, but she'd gone all good now or whatever, and she supposed it wouldn't be very good of her to do that; she'd had a deal with him, and he was upholding quite well. "Well, first off," Natalie began, "Do you have any tea?" She sighed. "It's not at all the right hour, but I need it."

"Uh, yeah, sure." Dan said, still looking suspicious. He took another glance at Natalie's bracelet. "I'll just go get that for you." He fairly bolted out of the room and into the kitchen, which Natalie thought was kind of amusing. She smiled slightly at the command she could have over other people. It made her feel very in-charge in the crazy life of being a Cahill descendant.

A few minutes passed, and Natalie stayed alone in the living room. She was about to get up and investigate what was taking so long, but a sound caught her keen ears. Natalie froze. It sounded like... A kind of a thump? A shuffling thump?

Natalie stood quickly, the noises getting louder. It sounded like it was coming from INSIDE the wall. Or maybe the ceiling? With a little yelp, Natalie decided that heck yes, this would be a good time to go and get that tea from Dan-

She ran out of the room, no longer okay with being alone. It was only moments before the grate on the air vent fell off the wall.

"Dan?" Natalie called into the kitchen, irritated and mildly horrified at her own imagination and the bumping sounds. She stepped inside and saw Dan looking rather melancholy (AGAIN?) and stirring a spoon in a teacup. He startled at her voice.

"Oh, sorry, Nat. I got distracted." Dan muttered. Natalie recoiled when he called her 'Nat'. He hadn't ever done that before.

"Doing what?" She snapped, disliking his mood swings more than ever.

"There's just a lot on my mind, okay?" Dan replied pointedly. He pushed the teacup towards her and Natalie sat down at the counter next to Dan. For the first time, Natalie saw something in Dan she hadn't ever seen before. He actually just seemed really... Sad. In that moment he was so different a person than he had been before the clue hunt. Whatever was on his mind wasn't something petty.

"Like what?" Natalie asked, stirring the tea now for herself. It was cold, and she wouldn't drink it, but the spoon against the side of the cup made a lovely sound while she waited for a response.

"You don't care, so why ask?" Dan said. Natalie thought about this as she stirred. No, he was wrong. She did care. She wanted to know; if she didn't find out, it would always bother her. And... A little more discomfort crept up on Natalie as she looked at Dan's unusual sadness.

"Who says I don't care?" Natalie proclaimed. She was shocked at her own outright-ness, so she continued, hoping to water that comment down. "I'm stuck with you for a week, and if you're going to be depressed, what am I supposed to do?" She nudged Dan's shoulder and smiled slightly, but inside she was wondering worriedly if she'd seemed like she cared too much.

Dan smiled too, a little darkness leaving his features. He straightened and pulled something out of his pocket.

It was a small locket shaped like a heart. It was lovely, something Natalie wouldn't have minded wearing herself. The heart was silver on a silver chain, delicate swirls decorating the necklace lightly.

"After I told Uncle Fiske about the party idea, he said he had something to give me. He said... That this was my mom's. Grace gave it to him a long time ago, after my parents died. He said Grace said the last time my mom had come over, she left the necklace there by accident, and then she... She never got it back." Dan's fingers twisted the necklace in his hands. "And Grace gave it to Fiske because she couldn't bear to have it lying around. But Fiske said I should have it, now. Amy has most of the stuff left from them. I mean, there isn't much, though."

Natalie had stopped her stirring now, so it was absolutely quiet, except for some noisy birds outside the kitchen window. She was completely unsure, for once in her life, what to say. And so she risked sounding cold;

"It's beautiful." Natalie said quietly, instead of something sympathetic. Dan laid in out on the counter in front of Natalie, but she didn't touch it. She felt that she'd already violated Dan's privacy somehow, and she didn't want to further any damage. Dan sighed.

"Yeah, well..." He seemed quite done on the subject, and scooped the necklace up and it went back into his pocket. Dan glanced at Natalie's untouched tea.

Natalie smiled in what she hoped was a gracious way, and she drank the cold tea anyway.

**~Ian~**

Amy's house was very, very poorly designed.

It was only day two of this (horrid?) family social adventure, and what was Ian Kabra doing? Crawling and falling down air vents with Amy Cahill. Not that, surprisingly, (or not) he really minded the Amy part.

But the air vent part was definitely annoying.

Once again: Death to Dan Cahill, the cause of this disaster.

Ian gritted his teeth and pushed against the grate, the one Amy had promised was loose. (Maybe.) He was determined to get OUT... But the grate didn't seem all that loose to Ian. "THIS is loose?" Ian hissed behind him, towards Amy. He didn't hear or see a reaction from her. Not waiting for one, Ian gave a final hard SHOVE against the grate and it broke off, almost taking Ian with it as it fell downwards. "Finally," Ian muttered as he righted himself, and he heard a soft gasp from Amy.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked. Ian pretended there was a real note of concern in her voice.

"Fine," He sighed. Ah- perfect. Right below the godforsaken air vent there was a sofa. Just the landing they needed, especially Amy, who was having quite a penchant for falling over today. "We'll land on the sofa," He reported, and with that, he simply slipped out. He landed squarely on the cushion of the sofa, his balance as precise as a cats. Ian looked up at the vent where Amy was still located, slightly squashed and cramped from the position she was in. He stood up, wincing slightly as his muscles adapted to the change of position.

Amy slipped out, copying Ian's movements, and was actually pretty successful, but quite wobbly. Well, at least she landed on the sofa, Ian thought with a hmmph.

"What now?" Amy asked. But right after she phrased the question a loud growling came from her stomach, audible even to Ian, who was a few feet away. A slow grin grew across Ian's features, and Amy's face quickly turned bright red at his amusement.

"Hungry?" He taunted. But in reality, he was hungry, too. Eyes wide, Amy hurried to take the lead, and she scurried to the kitchen, closely followed by Ian.

They hadn't planned on meeting Dan and Natalie in there.

Beside Ian, Amy froze, her eyes quickly finding Ian's. He felt a small sense of smugness that she was silently asking him what to do; their plan... He was in charge. But did it start now? They hadn't planned on seeing Dan and Natalie so soon. They weren't prepared. No matter, that couldn't be helped now, and Ian gave the slightest of a nod, letting Amy know the plan was to be in action right NOW.

Dan and Natalie were sitting at the counter, and surprisingly, they were completely silent, rather than bickering as Ian would have suspected. Natalie's eyes widened when she saw Ian, no doubt thinking of the cracklers she'd left in his room. Natalie's eyes dipped nervously, while Dan just yawned, looking uninterested.

"Y-you guys-" Amy started. She cleared her throat, starting again on the words she and Ian had decided she'd say. "You guys, you'll never guess what happened..." Amy blushed, and Ian smirked, knowing the blushing was probably completely real. "Ian and I got locked in my room."

Ian sighed, playing along. "Last night after dinner I needed to see Amy, so I went to her room. Something must have happened to the doorknob, because we got stuck in there." Ian crossed his arms and regarded Natalie (Who had recovered, looking a little surprised but now mostly poised) and Dan, who was getting a tiny smile going on his face. "You wouldn't happen to know why it did, would you?" He asked pointedly.

"Nah," Dan said, waving the question away. Amy had said Dan probably only meant to lock her in her room, so now that Dan knew he'd succeeded in trapping Ian, too, he was probably pleased as punch, even though that would have meant Ian hadn't been up all night because of the cracklers. "That's hilarious, though." Dan grinned.

Natalie frowned. "How did you get out?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "And why were you going to see Amy last night, anyway?"

Ian hadn't expected that last question, but he covered it smoothly. He answered Natalie's first question first. "Air vents," Ian said distastefully. "After a whole night and half a day in there we had to find SOME way out." Ian glanced at Amy. "Short of busting down the door, of course." Amy flushed, because this part was true, too. She hadn't allowed the idea of destroying her door. "Anyway, why I was in Amy's room is of no concern to you." He said calmly.

Dan and Natalie glanced at each other and both burst out laughing. Probably at the whole situation, but mostly because Dan's little trick, as Ian and Amy led them to believe, had meant Ian was stuck in a room the whole night and most of today with Amy. It disturbed Ian to think of what else they could be laughing about.

Ian scowled at their immaturity, and Amy, who had already been pink with embarrassment, was now flaming red.

"Whatever," Ian hissed. He grabbed Amy's wrist and pulled her back into the living room before Dan and Natalie recovered and began assaulting them with accusations. Unexpectedly soon, the first part of Ian and Amy's revenge plan had been completed...

Make Dan and Natalie completely unsuspecting of the fact that Ian and Amy wanted revenge at all.

"W-what about getting food?" Amy mumbled. Ian sighed, dropping her wrist.

"We'll go get takeout." He promised.

Phase one of the revenge plan: Complete.

**~Hamilton~**

The water felt nice after the warmth of the sun.

But Hamilton was hardly enjoying it as he cut through the water quite gracefully for someone of his size and power; he'd seen the little bundle that was the cat, and as was customary of a Holt, he DID before he thought.

Thus, the quick reaction that ended up with Hamilton carefully cradling a small cat in his arms and swimming back to the pond bank.

Sinead's beautiful features were twisted in surprising anguish at the sight as Hamilton drew nearer. She likes cats a lot, Hamilton thought of the worry on her face. Hamilton extended his arms with the cat, and Sinead swept it into her own arms gently. Hamilton climbed back out onto the bank, shaking like a wet dog.

"Oh," Sinead cooed, stroking the cat's wet head. "Do you think it's... Dead?" The tone of her voice was sad enough to be near heart-breaking for Hamilton. He swallowed nervously, wanting to tell her that the little cat was fine. But in reality he had no idea, and no sound escaped his helpless mouth. The cat wasn't looking so good. It resembled a furry black lump of mass with two ears and a tail. It's eyes were smooshed shut, and it's whiskers hung down damply.

"Can you fix it?" Hamilton asked her finally, finding his voice but asking mostly for the sake of responding at all.

"I'm an Ekat, not a vet!" Sinead snapped in reply. She frowned deeply, and though she claimed not to be a vet or anything, she looked like she was assessing the damage of the animal. Suddenly her eyes widened in front of Hamilton. "Get that park ranger!" With one hand, Sinead pointed, the other arm supporting the black cat.

Hamilton scrambled in the direction she'd pointed at, wondering what he should do in this situation. He supposed all he really could do was get the ranger, or guard or whomever he was, and see if he knew anything. If not then he'd rip out his phone and call the animal police.

The animal police. Was that a thing?

Hamilton quickly relayed the story of the drowned cat, and the ranger hurried over. Sinead had gently put the cat down on the ground and was hovering over it like it might suddenly jump up and be absolutely fine. The park ranger miraculously seemed to know what to do.

He explained he knew some about animals because, firstly, of the park's ducks; and secondly, because sadly the park was a usual spot for people dumping pets. They assumed this was the wild and that the animals would be fine. Or, sometimes, the ranger said ominously as he assessed the cat, people actually threw injured pets into the creek or the ponds.

Sinead looked like she was going to throw up.

Hamilton turned her away as the ranger began pressing the cats stomach, trying to dislodge water. He was, again, surprised at Sinead's compassion for the kitty. It is hard not to feel bad, though, Hamilton amended, once you'd seen the poor cat all wet and unmoving like that. Hamilton stood dripping, his hand on Sinead's back so that she faced the duck pond and not the cat, her face a perfect picture of worry.

"He's making it!"

The ranger's sudden voice cut through Hamilton's thoughts, and Sinead snapped herself around. The cat was mewling feebly now, and it's eyes had opened, revealing massive yellow orbs. The ranger had also, then, confirmed that the cat was male.

"Will he be okay?" Hamilton asked.

The ranger nodded. "He's a little beat, but he should be fine... I'll call the local pound and bring the cat, they'll take him in."

Hamilton saw Sinead hesitate, like she didn't want the cat to go to the pound.

"We can take him there," Ham volunteered. The ranger looked surprised, but his mouth rose to a smile.

"That's very generous of you." The ranger seemed to trust them now, especially after seeing the wet Hamilton after he'd saved the cat from the water. The ranger resumed his post and Hamilton and Sinead took the cat to the car, where Sinead wrapped it in a towel she found in the trunk.

As wet as he was, Hamilton decided to drive. It was evident that Sinead wanted to hold the cat on the way to the nearest pound, which the ranger had given them directions to. It was a short drive, everything close together in the quiet city of Attleboro. Hamilton pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car. The cat squeaked out a meow.

They sat there for a moment.

"Should we bring him in?" Hamilton suggested. Sinead hesitated, then nodded.

"Sorry. I just... I like this little guy." Sinead smiled down on the cat, but she wrapped him up in the towel again and took him inside anyway. Minutes passed, and Hamilton sat alone in the car, his clothes slowly drying. Just as he was about to go in after Sinead, he saw her walking back, red ponytail bouncing. "He's okay," Sinead said of the cat as she slid back into the car. "They gave him food and they dried him off."

Hamilton nodded. "That's good," He said. Sinead still looked a bit sad at parting from the cat. "Are you okay?" Hamilton asked her.

"What?" Sinead murmured, distracted. "Oh- Yes! I'll be fine. Do you think... We could come back tomorrow, though? You know, to check on him?" Sinead asked Hamilton hopefully. Hamilton laughed. She really had taken a liking to the cat.

"Sure, no problem."

"And Hamilton?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for saving him." Sinead smiled radiantly, and Hamilton, of course, smiled back. For Hamilton, when Sinead smiled it was just a natural reaction for him to smile back.

_A/N_

_Thanks! Now..._

_1) Is anyone interested in me making a contest of some sort?_

_2) Who's section did you like best today- Natalie, Ian, or Hamilton? (I liked Natalie's part)_

_3) Who is the last person you hugged? (xD My little sister lol)_

_4) What is the worst kind of bug? o_O_

_~Lovely_


	11. Scars and Fireworks

_A/N_

_IMPORTANT:_

_Go read Poptrpica.1997's story, 'Skydiving with Her'. I'm Beta-ing it :D Also, if you haven't yet, go read my Amian oneshot, 'Past, Present, Future'. I command you too :P _**ALSO**_ THERE ARE _**ANNOUNCEMENTS**_ AT THE BOTTOM A/N, BE SURE TO READ IT! __Now:_

_*Cue the evil laughter*_

_Disclaimer: I doth not owne thoust thirty-and-nine-clues; But I totes wish I did, bro. _

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Scars and Fireworks

**~Sinead~**

Sinead felt silly.

Her mind was stuck on that little cat. She just... Loved him. She had from the moment she'd spotted him there in the water, and she couldn't stop thinking about him. In her head, she narrowed down choices of names. He could be called Nipkow, after the inventor of the early television. Oh- or Daimler, after the man who created the world's first four-wheeled motor vehicle. Or Whitney, as in Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin. Or Fleming, the inventor of penicillin...

"Hey," Hamilton greeted Sinead, knocking her out of her thoughts. She'd been waiting for him in Grace's house. As Hamilton was sharing a room with Dan, he didn't live over in the guest house like some of the other Cahill relatives did, and he'd gone to shower and change after jumping into the duck pond to save little Nipkow-Daimler-Whitney-Fleming the cat. Sinead just waited on the living room sofa.

"Oh, hey." Sinead responded. She checked her watch; they had only a little time before the mandatory fireworks show. Outside the sun was already going down. It cast beautiful, soft pink light into the room through the window. "What do you want do to kill time?"

Hamilton shrugged. Then he grinned. "We could talk... Or we could play another game of chess."

Sinead rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. "Honestly, Hamilton, aren't you sick of it yet? I am, and that's saying a lot..."

"You're just saying that because I beat you this morning."

Sinead shook her head, not going to say that she'd let him win. She yawned, the relaxing sunbeams making her feel sleepy as only sunset rays can. "How about talking, like you said?" Sinead implored calmly. Surprisingly, she didn't feel like doing anything at all. Usually, being the Ekat she was, there was always a project she was working on. Or more than one. In fact, she'd been asked by Amy the other day to fix the burned out microwave in the guesthouse kitchen. But she didn't feel like doing it.

"Sure-sure." Hamilton responded. He thunked right down next to Sinead and gave an enormous yawn. He's tired, too, Sinead thought. But she just swatted at his arm.

"Cover your mouth next time you yawn." She said chidingly. "Manners matter." Hamilton grinned, finding this particularly amusing.

"Yes, Ms. Starling." He joked. Sinead swatted his arm again.

They lapsed into silence, but it wasn't really uncomfortable; that was the thing about Hamilton. He was surprisingly... Easy to talk to, or to just be around. Sinead had surprised herself, really, with how shortly it had taken her to start to trust him. She just couldn't help it. Hamilton didn't really seem capable of hurting her on purpose.

As dreadful as that bomb at the beginning of the clue hunt had been, Sinead knew Hamilton and the other Holts were sorry. Especially Hamilton, actually. She could just see it in his face if the subject came up. In time, Sinead hoped desperately, Ned and Ted would heal. They could figure it out- they were Ekats. They would make it out fine. And as for herself, the scars... They were probably there to stay, but they would fade somewhat over time...

And yet there was still a block between her and Hamilton, somehow, Sinead felt. She needed closure. She needed to get used to her scars and she needed to learn to live with them, AND the people who had caused them. And even though Sinead wasn't ready to wear short sleeved shirts- and she might never be ready- she was ready now for taking a small step in the direction of healing emotionally; and so, she did.

Sinead peeled back one of her sleeves and showed Hamilton.

"Woah," Said Hamilton.

Sinead bit her tongue so hard she thought it might bleed. In a way, looking at the scars that covered her hurt her more than the pain she'd had from getting them. She usually tried her hardest to ignore them, her eyes always averting so much of her own body.

It had been a year, though, so the scars weren't at all as bad as they had been before. They were like jagged pink lines now, some slightly raised on her skin. In some spots she could see white lines that had once been stitches holding her skin together. Teeth still biting down hard, tears began to blur her vision. Even so, she could see the look on Hamilton's face.

After his initial 'woah', he didn't seem to have any words. Hamilton's eyes closed a bit, his expression so thoughtful, more thoughtful than Sinead had ever seen it. Tentatively, Hamilton fingers rose and brushed a scar near Sinead's wrist.

"So this is what you hide." He said finally, quietly. Sinead had always had a fierceness about her; it kicked in. Not at Hamilton, but at the tears just waiting to fall in her eyes. No, she would not let them fall. Not in front of Hamilton. Or not ever, really, in front of anyone. She was sick of being scared of her scars, sick of the way they made her feel. Hamilton's fingers hovered atop the skin of her forearm, and goosebumps shot up it all the way to her shoulder. Sinead shivered. Hamilton looked up at Sinead, his eyes intelligently intensive, and he smiled quietly. "They're really not so bad, Sinead. But... why did you show me?"

Sinead took a deep breath, then exhaled. "Because I was ready." She said calmly. Hamilton's expression darkened.

"I'll always feel like this is my fault, you know." Hamilton said, and in a strange way, this was a promise. He meant it. And even if he hadn't spoken the words aloud, Sinead would have known what he was thinking from his expression... Hamilton's fingers wrapped around her wrist, where the last scar on her arm stopped. Sinead could feel the power of the Tomas branch in his grip, and yet, at the same time, it was so gentle. Contrary to many's beliefs, just because Hamilton had the power to didn't mean he would just go about crushing things. Hamilton's hand began to slide down her wrist and to her hand.

Suddenly, Sinead's watch, on her other wrist, began to beep. It was her alarm going off, telling her it was 7:00. That meant that within minutes the fireworks show would start, and if she and Hamilton weren't there to see it, or likely even if they were late, they'd get an earful from Fiske Cahill. Sinead realized startlingly how close she sat to Hamilton, and just as she did his fingers fell away from her arm and he straightened, moving farther away from her.

"We better go outside." Hamilton said.

**~Amy~**

Amy and Ian had retrieved Amy's phone, and it was miraculously unharmed. (Getting it back was quite fluster-ful for Amy, however, because it reminded her of how it had fallen outside her window, hours before, in the first place.) Next they had broken the doorknob off of Amy's door and rescued Saladin from Amy's bathroom (well, Amy had. Ian stayed clear of 'that beast',) and then they'd finally gone out to get some Chinese food takeout and brought it back to the house. (Ian was probably so hungry he didn't care what the status of the food was.)

All this happened within the span of half an hour, and now they sat in the kitchen at the counter, eating sesame chicken and mei fun noodles. It was funny, Amy thought off topically, how she never seemed to go into the actual dining hall to eat. Well, disregarding mandatory family dinners and the like... She and Dan and Nellie, and Fiske, when he was home, always seemed to just meet up in the kitchen to eat, sitting at the counter on average days. Somehow the dining hall was huge and fancy and lonely, while the kitchen felt homey and inviting...

Suddenly, a loud booming sound startled Amy so much that one of her dumplings flew off of her fork at smacked Ian in the face. Ian gave her a very dirty look, donning a napkin and grimacing.

"Oh! Sorry, Ian."

"What WAS that sound?" Ian asked, pointedly annoyed though not addressing the fact that he'd been hit in the face with Chinese cuisine.

"Oh!" Amy said a second time, remembering something. She dug her phone out of her pocket, intending to show Ian a text; It was from Fiske. She hadn't received it until she'd gotten her phone back, of course, even though it had been much earlier that it was sent. At the time Ian was ordering their food, and she'd forgotten to tell him: Mandatory attendance at home for a fireworks show at 7:00.

More booms wracked the house.

"Well?" Ian snapped. Amy waved the phone in front of his face. "...Fireworks?" Ian said, looking quite stunned. Amy frowned. It wasn't THAT unusual. The Cahills definitely had the money to pay for a show like that.

"Yeah," Amy said. "Come on, if we don't get out there soon, Fiske will come looking for us. And... He's kind of a ranter."

Ian rolled his eyes, because he knew that. Everyone did.

Amy and Ian hurried outside to a sky full of bursting fireworks. Amy's breath was momentarily taken away; the fireworks were so close in the sky that she could see each individual spark as they began to fade, and they seemed to rain down like pieces of glitter. She'd never been so close. Amy kind of wanted to reach up with her hands, because the sparks seemed so close that she might somehow touch them.

Amy and Ian hurried past Fiske, who had started towards them sternly, for being... Amy checked her watch. Approximately 7 minutes late. She waved as innocently as she could and ran up the hill out back, stumbling slightly. Amy paused to wave at Jonah who was sitting with Ted. Jonah flashed his million-dollar smile, and Amy smiled back, glad that he and Ted seemed to be getting along. Amy passed Sinead and Hamilton and waved a hello to them, too. Sinead brightened when she saw Amy, and mouthed an I'll-Talk-To-You-Later. Then Sinead glared at Ian suspiciously.

Ian, who was in the lead, finally stopped when they were higher up on the hill than everyone else; further away, too. Amy didn't want to ask to sit closer because she didn't feel like confronting Ian. And frankly, she figured it wouldn't matter, because the fireworks were so loud and she didn't think they'd be talking, anyway.

Amy settled into the grass, wishing she'd grabbed a blanket or something to sit on. She shivered. A jacket would have been nice, too... Summer nights were surprisingly cold in Attleboro. Ian sat down beside her, not looking too pleased at sitting on actual grass.

But everything seemed to get swept away when Amy let herself take in the scene in the sky directly above. The booms were less jarring now, as they were to be expected, and Amy couldn't help but let out a little laugh as she let herself sink into the scene. There was just something so enchanting about fireworks, and this display was a really nice one. Uncle Fiske had outdone himself.

Suddenly Amy's good time was interrupted; she was well aware of Ian's amber eyes watching her closely. A tidal wave of insecurities washed around her, and she frowned.

Why was Ian staring at her like that?

**~Dan~**

Maybe Natalie wasn't so bad.

Though this was a surprising thought, maybe it was true. Maybe Natalie really, really wasn't a lying, evil cobra anymore, for real. Or mostly not evil anyway. Dan thought this as he sat with her watching the fireworks.

They were pretty sweet, but he had a lot of thoughts floating around in his head. So much confusion he'd experienced today... This morning, when Natalie had hugged him. And when he'd seen her in that party dress, and he'd thought she looked so pretty, and had started beating himself up about it. Also when Uncle Fiske had given him Hope's locket, and he'd been drenched in a hollow sort of sadness... Like Dan was looking for memories, reaching for them, but they just weren't there. It wasn't fair, really. All that stuff going on, AND the fact that they'd been out of Cheetos AND Skittles at the house.

Sheesh, what a day.

However, it had been a bright spot that Ian and Amy totally didn't know he'd messed with Amy's doorknob. Ian getting stuck in a room with Amy was completely hilarious, and even Natalie had thought so. Then the fact that they had actually CRAWLED through the air vents... Well dang it that was just too good to be true! Anyway, though.

Natalie's reaction to Dan's new locket- tucked safely in his pocket at the moment- had slightly shocked him. In the first place he wasn't even sure why he'd shown her, but he had, so... That was that. But Natalie hadn't been mean about it at all, really. No Why-Would-I-Care's or Get-A-Life-Dan!'s. She'd seemed somehow so sullenly morose; and now she just sat daintily on a folded up blanket in the grass, watching fireworks like everyone else. She yawned.

Dan yawned too, thinking, for once in his life, that sleep sounded like a nice idea. If he was asleep, he couldn't really be thinking about all of his problems, right? Dan sighed as a golden firework burst overhead, trailing smoke high up into the sky. Natalie yawned again, covering her mouth with a well-manicured hand. She sure is sleepy, Dan thought. He thought of this stupid movie he'd seen Amy watching one time, and how in it, the girl character fell asleep on the guy character's shoulder. (Dan had made a real riot out of the fact that she was watching a movie with something like that in it, but, red-faced, Amy had insisted this was the first time she'd seen it, and that she hadn't known there would be anything of that sort in the film.)

Still, Dan's wandering mind wondered what that would feel like. To have a girl fall asleep on his shoulder, like in that movie. Dan blinked suddenly, feeling stupid at that thought. He was turning into such an idiot...

He blamed Natalie.

_A/N_

_I have two announcements._

_Firstly:_** IS THE PACE OF THIS MOVING TOO SLOWLY?**

_Remember, the end of this chapter marks the end of day two- the next update will be day 3 out of an entire week. Is the pace too slow? Should I make time move along more quickly?_

_Secondly: I'm having a small _**contest **_for one of the next chapters! Here's what you'll need to do to participate:_

_Review telling me a word. (And answering the question up there, too, please.) It can be your favorite word, or a hilarious word, or a really long word... Any word you feel like entering. For example, "Platitudinous". See? Any word! Now, if I pick your word, I guarantee it will be in the chapter after the next- I'm extending the deadline to the next chapter. I'll have like 3-4 winners who get the chapter dedicated to them, and..._

**THE FIRST PLACE WINNER GETS TO READ THE FIRST CHAPTER OF MY NEW FIC BEFORE ANYONE ELSE! That AU fic I mentioned I had an idea for...**

_I have had a contest like this in the past and it's great fun. No matter what your word is, if I pick it, I'll find some way to work it into the story, in the 13th chapter!_

_Please enter! :D_

_~Lovely_


	12. Smoothie in the FACE

_A/N_

_THE _**DEADLINE FOR YOUR WORD_,_**_ IF YOU HAVEN'T ENTERED IT YET, IS THIS CHAPTER. The _**NEXT**_ chapter will contain the winning words. This was just to allow more people a chance to enter._

_Now, I thought that yall might like to see the winners words from the last time I did this, in a story for House of Anubis. The words were:_

Canadian, Antelopes, Epicondylitis, Fruitcake, _and_ Hobo._ There was also this haiku that I let get put in, even though the requirement was a word and not a poem:_

"Haiku's are cool,

but sometimes make no sense

Refrigerator"

_xD So there you have it- the word submissions are great so far, keep them coming in! Remember, this is your last chance to enter!_

_NOW: Credit for the first revenge prank goes to Beachbum999! Thanks for the great idea you gave me a while back, it's in this chapter :)_

_Disclaimer: I still don't own the 39 Clues! GET OUT OF MY FACE BEFORE I THROW A ROCK AT YOU AND YOUR BRETHREN! _

CHAPTER TWELVE: Smoothie in the FACE

**~Hamilton~**

Day three.

It was funny how it felt like it had been so much longer- but really, Ham thought to himself as he got ready in the morning, when you're spending nearly and entire DAY with someone, time can pass slowly. A lot had happened in the two days before...

Different thoughts drifted aimlessly around in Hamilton's head. Mostly involving the things he'd seen and done with Sinead. Like saving that little cat, and how he'd promised to take her to see the cat TODAY, (which was why he was getting dressed now- to take her) and other things, like the fireworks show last night.

And how Sinead had showed him her scars.

He'd kind of really wanted to see them, but he'd never asked. And yet when she'd shown him, he was in the full realization that they were there because of HIM. Or Team Holt- but that didn't really matter. It certainly FELT like it was his fault, and it had really all come crushing down at once. And yet, somehow, even though Hamilton didn't think Sinead deserved to have those scars, and that they were there because of him, they kind of seemed to... Suit her somehow. Like they were marks of a war, showing what she'd been through. Representing it. Showing that she'd been smart enough to speed up the healing process, that she'd gotten through and that she was fine, and strong enough to handle anything...

Hamilton had finished getting ready while he was thinking and so he was just staring at the wall; he realized that he was and he left Dan's room, which he was sharing with Dan for the week. (Dan snored pretty badly, actually...) Hamilton had no doubts as he left, like he had yesterday, that Sinead would want to go early. He knew she was eager to see the cat.

Hamilton left Grace's house, passing through the kitchen and waving hi to Reagan and Madison, early risers, unlike their match-ups for the week. Or apparently, because they weren't there. Madison and Reagan hardly even noticed him as he passed through, because they were fighting over a cereal box. Hamilton rolled his eyes and stepped outside.

The sunlight, like yesterday, was bright and cheery. Sinead was sitting on the front porch of the guesthouse, wearing sunglasses like she had the first day. She waved to him.

Hamilton approached, and feelings- whatever kind of feelings they might have been- made his stomach knot up. Last night, when he'd been sitting with Sinead, he'd been so stupid. Really. He'd almost tried to... Well, hold her hand.

Hamilton winced at the thought. He didn't need to do that. Sinead had accepted him even after the terrible bomb incident- even if Hamilton hadn't accepted it himself- and so he didn't need to push her that way. There wasn't any chance at all, he concluded rather sadly, that she might like him anyway. She was smart and pretty and SHE hadn't ever bombed anyone... And Hamilton was big and bulky and not the smartest, even if he wasn't stupid. And Hamilton had done such an awful thing to her and the other Starlings...

"Hi," Said Sinead.

Last night after the fireworks they'd parted ways, because Hamilton had gotten the idea she wanted to go to sleep, even though it was so early. He supposed she'd had a heck of a day, though. "Hi," Hamilton replied. "Uhm, ready to go see your cat?"

Sinead smiled, which was a good sign, Hamilton thought, and took the lead down the porch steps. "Yes, I am. Are we taking your car?"

"Yeah, I guess," Hamilton responded. They quickly climbed into the Holt's minivan and they were off.

**~Natalie~**

Dan had finally gotten up, and now they were sitting around in the kitchen.

Natalie had never really understood why everyone seemed to eat in the kitchen. The Cahills had a nice dining room, why not use that? But when she'd complained to Dan he hadn't even answered her. Natalie sighed, not touching the bowl of Cheerios in front of her. Did Dan really expect her to eat that? Good lord, staying here was making her lose weight!

"Dan, do you have ANYTHING else to eat?" Natalie asked, sighing. Dan was eating Fruit Loops on the other side of the counter, his eyes looking vividly green from the light spilling in through the windows.

"Nope," Dan said around his cereal. Natalie grimaced and looked away at his mouth full of food. Dan was so immature.

Suddenly the front door opened, and Amy and Ian spilled inside, laughing about something. Natalie narrowed her eyes, for a moment, wondering how Ian was holding up with Amy. She'd seen the way Ian was around her. He was even quite un-Kabra sometimes. Heaven forbid Ian start to really like Amy... That would be bad. But when Natalie thought this, her own gaze drifted to Dan, happily eating his Fruit Loops across the counter.

Natalie blinked. Do I have the flu or something? She thought desperately.

"Hi," Amy said cheerily, entering the kitchen. She was holding two big cups and two straws. Ian followed behind her.

"Yo," Said Dan, randomly imitating Jonah. "What are you holding, Amy?"

"Smoothies. Do you guys want some?" Amy replied. Natalie rolled her eyes. Amy was such a goody-goody nice person that she'd made everyone SMOOTHIES?

"YES!" Dan cheered. He took a cup and a straw from Amy. "Thanks, sis." He said. Natalie froze.

"Wait, Dan." Suspiciously, she took a cup and a straw from Amy. She examined the contents- a sluggy-looking pink liquid. Yup, smoothie. But something didn't seem right. Sure, it was Amy giving them the smoothies, but wasn't it kind of random? It was a nice action, and it didn't seem like something Ian would be involved with.

"What?" Dan complained, poised and ready to put his straw in his smoothie. "C'mon, Natalie. FREE SMOOTHIE."

"Why don't you guys have smoothies?" Natalie asked Amy, ignoring Dan. Ian answered his sister, though. He rolled his eyes.

"Please, Natalie. We already had ours in the guesthouse, and we just happened to have extra, that's all. Amy said we could give them to whomever was hanging around."

Dan looked pleadingly at Natalie, as if asking permission. Natalie sighed. Maybe she WAS wrong, and her usual spot-on Lucian senses were getting messed up by the sheer aura of Dan Cahill. She was paranoid. Amy and Ian don't know it was us who got them stuck in their room, Natalie thought, relaxing. They have not reason to give us a poisoned drink or anything like that. Besides, Natalie thought. I need to get Amy's permission for a party! And Natalie's final thought on the subject was that a smoothie would be a whole lot nicer than her soggy bowl of uneaten Cheerios.

Taking the second cup and straw from Amy, Natalie smiled at her and Ian. "You're right. Thanks." Taking this as a cue, Dan plopped his straw right down into his cup at the same moment Natalie did.

BAM!

Strawberry smoothie exploded everywhere out of two cups at the same time. Natalie was frozen in shock, slimy smoothie dripping down her face. What the...?

Natalie clenched her fists, seeing what had happened.

The end of the straw, which was now on the floor, was sharp. And amid the smoothie droplets on the floor there was a small, popped balloon. Amy and Ian had put a tiny balloon in a cup, covered it with smoothie, and given one to her... And one to Dan. Dan looked quite surprised and didn't say anything. And that was when Natalie realized something else; this was revenge. Ian and Amy DID know that Natalie and Dan had locked them into the room.

Ian and Amy were laughing hysterically.

"THAT's what you get for ruining my sleep!" Ian yelled at Dan and Natalie, with an unsurprising amount of hate in his tone.

"And locking us in a room!" Amy said, blushing slightly. Ian grabbed her wrist and they fled the room, cackling like hyenas and leaving two pink-covered messes of people behind. Natalie felt tears of mourn prick her eyes. Her lovely Karl Lagerfeld dress... She was right, pranks WERE for low-lifes... This was all Dan's fault. Look at what he got us into! Natalie thought indigently.

"Jerks," Dan muttered. "I really did think they didn't know it was us..."

"Of course they did, you idiot." Natalie sneered, trying to wipe strawberry pink goo out of her eyes and her hair. Dan smiled slightly.

"Well... It WAS kinda funny, don't you think?"

"NO."

Dan laughed, moving closer to Natalie. "They're probably not done, either. I bet they have more planned." Natalie looked at Dan crazily as he said this, because he didn't even seem worried. Instead, those pretty green eyes of his looked mischievous, like, bring-it-on. Dan flicked a chunk of strawberry out of Natalie's hair. Natalie sighed. Well, now that they were covered in smoothie...

"I think pink is your color," Natalie told Dan, a lovely smile breaking out on her face. Dan laughed.

**~Ian~**

"Wow," Ian said, unable to help his grinning. Pranking sort of gave you a rush.

"I CAN'T believe we just did that," Amy said, catching her breath. They had of course run away as soon as Phase Two had been completed... Ian hadn't thought sticking around would be such a good idea. Natalie had started to look sort of murderous back there. Still, Amy and Ian had more planned. It was going to be great...

But Phase Three, or the Final Phase, would have to be executed later. Right now he was here with Amy, on the guesthouse's porch.

Last night, Ian had been surprised to hear that there would be a fireworks show. It was kind of really weird, after Ian had had that dream about him and Amy and fireworks. He still didn't know what it had meant, but during the fireworks... Ian had been sure he'd lost it.

He couldn't help but think of that stupid, unrealistic dream. The way the sparks had landed in Amy's hair. He half expected it to actually happen, but of course, it hadn't. And Amy had looked beautiful, anyway, without the firework glitter in her hair. The fact that she had been so enchanted by them had made HER really enchanting. There... He'd come to term with it, as horrifying as it was.

Beautiful. Enchanting.

He was crazy.

There had always been the part of him that liked her. But it was small, insignificant... Like Amy herself. Except it wasn't and she wasn't, and unfortunately, he was coming to realize that the more time he spent with her. Getting through the rest of the week was not going to be easy now. Or it wouldn't feel easy... Really, it just wasn't fair. Ian was supposed to be the one who unnerved HER.

Thinking all of this again, Ian's pranking rush was gone, and he was in a darker mood.

"Well... What should we do now?" Amy asked, still smiling from their revenge prank. Ian sighed, thinking of his own predicament.

"I really don't know."

_A/N_

_1) If you haven't _**entered a word**,_ please do so! :D_

_2) What's your favorite song right now?_

_3) Would you rather have a doughnut or a walnut? xD_

_4) Polar bears or Grizzly bears?_

_:)_

_~Lovely_


	13. Puffy Fluffs

_A/N_

_The... WINNERS!_

**5th**_ place belongs to: Guest reviewer Aquamarine39, with their word, Hippopotomonstrosesquippedal iophobia! (The fear of long words- This IS one word, but it must be too long for whatever reason. FF documents keeps making it two. I'm sorry, it's so annoying -_-)_  
**4th** _place belongs to: AmberCahill, with their word, Agelast! (A person who rarely or never laughs)_  
**3rd**_ place belongs to: A Light in Black, with their word, Stillicide! (Falling water, often water falling from a building)_  
**2nd**_ place belongs to: readingfreak3546, with their word, tunic! (This word is like hilarious xD)_

_And finally, the _**1st **_place winner is..._

_ChristianBookNerd, with _**Puffy Fluffs**_! (A kind of cotton balls... I can't stop laughing... xD) Congrats, ChristianBookNerd. Expect a rare, early copy of the first chapter of my new story that will be coming out soon in your PM inbox! _

_The entries were GREAT, thanks to EVERYONE SO MUCH! Honorable mentions would be Guest reviewer emster with Aster, and JesseCPK with Defenestrate. I really enjoyed reading through all the words, and I picked carefully! Thanks everybody! NOW WATCH CLOSELY FOR THE WINNING WORDS IN THIS CHAPTER!_

This chapter is **DEDICATED** to ChristianBookNerd, redinfreak2546, A Light in Black, AmberCahill, and Guest reviewer Aquamarine39.

_Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues. HAPPY HOLIDAYS- BAH HUMBUG!_

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Puffy Fluffs

**~Sinead~**

Sinead could hardly help but bounce in her car seat a little bit.

This really was the most excited she'd been in a while. They were going to see her little cat... She still wasn't sure on what she'd like to call him.

"Franklin," Sinead said aloud, testing out a name of yet another inventor. She wrinkled her nose. "No, he was a Lucian."

"What?" Hamilton muttered, distracted at the random traffic. It must have been rush hour, because leading into the city there were a lot of cars. Hamilton looked slightly nervous; a car raced past and cut them off. Hamilton sighed and slowed, the car coming to a stop behind a long stream of other cars. Sinead tapped her fingers on her legs nervously. "So, what did you say?" Hamilton repeated.

Sinead thought of his fingers on her wrist. "Nothing, really. I'm just trying to come up with a name for my cat."

Hamilton raised an eyebrow. "YOUR cat?" He questioned. "Are you going to adopt him?"

Sinead's fingers twisted the bottom of her long t-shirt. "I don't know..." She hesitated. She kind of really liked the idea. She knew Ned and Ted liked cats, too, but was she ready to take the responsibility of having a pet cat? Sometimes Sinead got so wrapped up in her work she forgot to feed herself. Could she handle a cat? What if he ate mainly only red snapper, like Saladin?

"I don't know." Sinead sighed. Hamilton paused, before replying,

"Well, if you do, there is NO way you're naming him Franklin. That's like... So lame."

"Hey!" Sinead muttered. "Besides, I wasn't going to use that." Sinead read off some of her other name ideas, but Hamilton looked severely unimpressed. Or maybe just a little horrified.

"You can't give your cat a name like Cousteau! He'll get beat up by the other cats!"

"Fine. How about Holt?" Sinead snapped. "Benjamin Holt invented the tractor in 1904." For a moment, Hamilton's face lit up, but then he realized Sinead was being sarcastic. Hamilton sighed again, and the traffic began to move once more. "What do YOU suggest?" Sinead said, a little peeved that her choices had been rejected.

"Hm..." Hamilton smiled. "Lincoln."

"Lincoln?" Sinead said, frowning. "Like, the president?"

"Yes!" Said Hamilton cheerily. He whistled. "Now THERE was a cool dude. And have you SEEN that guy's hat?"

Sinead rolled her eyes. "It wasn't just HIS hat. It was every man's hat then- it was the style." She quieted for a bit, thinking of the name. Lincoln. Hm. It kind of had a nice ring to it... Sinead liked it. She could see the cat with a name like that; Lincoln! Besides, even if Lincoln hadn't been an Ekat, he was still one of America's greatest presidents, according to historians. Really the only downside to the name was that Hamilton had come up with the name, not her. "Okay," She said finally. "Lincoln it is."

Hamilton cheered.

Suddenly, they passed a car wash.

A sudden memory came to Sinead, and she began to laugh. As a kid, she'd LOVED automatic car washes. Ned and Ted, too. They would all be sitting in the back of the car, and whenever a car wash came into view, they'd beg their parents to use it... It wasn't that the car was always dirty; it was that they loved seeing the quick machinery. As Sinead and her brothers got older the fascination never left, and whenever Sinead saw an automatic car wash, she would find herself itching to bring a car into and watch the interesting mechanisms. She and Ned and Ted had learned to discuss ways to improve it as they had gotten older- they often debated on the subject.

"What's up?" Hamilton asked of Sinead sudden laughter.

"Oh, I was just saw a car wash, that's all." Sinead said. She saw Hamilton's confused expression and she explained the story to him. She couldn't help but feel a little stupid once she'd said it aloud, but Hamilton just grinned.

"You are so weird, Sinead, you know that?"

Sinead huffed, but she laughed, too. Suddenly, Hamilton pulled off the main road and took a side one. He turned the car around, back towards the car wash station. "What are you doing?" Sinead asked. Now she was the confused one.

"This traffic is so bad it'll take us another 30 minutes to get to the pound anyway. So we might as well..." Hamilton pulled the car up to the automatic car wash, "...Wash the car." The car did kind of need it, anyway. Sinead's face broke into a smile. Hamilton was so... Silly.

This particular car wash had a cycle like most. After Hamilton had shoved three dollars into the pay box, he drove the car forward and into the beginning cycle. The water, like stillicide, made quiet noises on the roof and the hood of the car. Next a liquid like spray rained down, and then the fun part began; the scrubbing part.

Hamilton and Sinead comically cheered as the giant spongy rollers foamed up the wet, soapy car. They rolled past the windows and shined them up. Sinead admired how smoothly it went. The world of inventing was just that way; the last automatic car wash she'd been to was actually 2 or so years before, and already, this newer, present-age automatic car washer was so much neater.

The last, final, loud spray of water left the car utterly dripping, and Hamilton peeled it out.

"Thanks, Hamilton," Sinead said. She felt her stomach knot up quite suddenly. He's so sweet, she thought. Really, he's harmless... The scars on her arms might tell Sinead otherwise, but, she didn't think that they were so different any more. Once she would have laughed at the idea of being similar to a Holt, but it seemed that Hamilton just wanted what she wanted in the end. To be happy. And he seemed a lot better at achieving that through little things than Sinead.

"Welcome," Hamilton replied. "Okay, time to see Lincoln."

**~Amy~**

Amy was glad the Final Phase of her and Ian's revenge would take place later.

She'd enjoyed it enough, but she still kind of felt bad. But only Amy would feel bad about splatting smoothie all of two people who had inadvertently almost caused her to fall out a window, among other things... And there was the looming threat of a prank war, which Amy didn't really want to get into.

She was sitting in the guest house living room with Ian. They weren't talking, and they weren't really DOING anything... Amy sighed. Nearly exactly after she had asked Ian what he wanted to do, Fiske had called her.

He'd said that people were requesting a PARTY to end the week. Excitement built in Amy when she'd heard; but she didn't know the slightest about throwing a party, however the idea of one... Well, it was kinda exciting. Fiske convinced her completely when he was told it had been requested by Dan and Natalie. If anyone WOULDN'T want to have something social like a party, Amy would have guessed it would be the Kabras and Dan. And yet Dan and Natalie requesting a party together just seemed like perfect getting-along-ness. exactly what this week was meant to do. Uniting all the Cahills one-on-one.

Amy was still having trouble with Ian, though. It felt so... On and off with him. Sometimes he was really... Amy couldn't think of a suitable word without major blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked him suddenly. Maybe he just didn't feel good. After she'd talked to Fiske for a bit Ian had become so stonily silent.

"What?" Ian muttered, looking deep in thought. "Oh, yes, I'm fine." He muttered, but didn't say any more. Amy had told Ian why Fiske had called her, but the lapse into silence that had followed didn't seem like it was going to break. But somehow, it did. "Amy," Ian said suddenly, "Would you happen to know a place that sells Italian silk ties?"

Amy blinked. What kind of a question IS that? She thought. "Uhm, no, sorry, Ian." She replied slowly. Ian sighed in exaggerated patience, as if he shouldn't have bothered to ask.

"Well, if we're having a formal party at the end of the week, I'm going to need a new tie."

"We have a while," Amy said. "Should we really go now?" Did he want to go... Shopping? Now?

"Let's get it over with." Ian replied. Amy realized with shock that he didn't sound like he even wanted to. Maybe, Amy thought, Natalie drags him shopping so much that he hates it. Or maybe it's just the stuff he's buying that he likes, but not the actual act of shopping. "Do you have anything formal?" Ian asked, as suddenly as he had first asked her about ties. Ian looked skeptically at Amy's outfit, which was what she always wore: Old jeans and a baggy t-shirt. Amy's face was red within one second, maybe a new record, even for her.

"Not really," Amy said, wincing slightly.

"Then YES, we are going shopping." Ian said, shaking his head.

"Fine," Amy mumbled. "But as long as we're going out, I need to pick up some groceries."

"Groceries?" Ian said, his eyes widening. "Why on earth do YOU buy the groceries around here? If you don't pay someone to do it for you, I'd expect that one of your... Guardians would do it."

Amy's face was burning- now she was a little mad. For her, it was tiresome to have Ian be so skeptical of everything about her and her lifestyle. So what is Fiske and Nellie didn't buy the groceries ALL the time? Nellie was kind of... Well, not to be trusted with the chore of grocery shopping, because she'd probably bring the whole store back home with her. (Nellie liked experimenting with food a little too much.) And Fiske was a busy, working man. He didn't really understand kids, or shopping, so usually... Amy just did it. It was normal for her now.

She even had a notepad in the kitchen where she'd jot down foods they seemed to be out of, and occasionally Nellie would write down an exotic spice or something and Amy would find time to go pick everything up.

"Whatever, Ian." Amy mumbled. "Fine, we'll go out. Just let me get the grocery list." Amy scrambled to the kitchen and ripped off the list from beside the counter. Ian had already called a taxi and they were off in just about no time.

In the car, Amy scanned the list.

The usual stuff was all there. Milk, eggs, orange juice. Some weird stuff called gravy granules, because apparently Nellie said they had all gone missing overnight or something from the kitchen cabinet. Something else on the list that Nellie had scribbled down caught Amy's eyes. Amy frowned.

"What's a... Puffy Fluffs?"

Ian was gazing out the window of the cab. "What?" Ian turned to face Amy. "Did you just say 'puffy fluff'?"

"Yeah," Amy said with a shrug. "I have no idea what that is. Nellie wrote it on the grocery list."

Ian frowned at it. "I have no idea, either."

The cab pulled up to the grocery store and Amy thanked the driver kindly and paid him, leaving a nice tip. "You're coming, right, Ian?" Amy said, sliding out of the car. Ian rolled his eyes.

"Yes, but I've never set foot in a grocery store in my entire life." Ian sighed. Stop whining, Amy thought, but she didn't say that out loud. She didn't have the nerve. Besides, Amy somehow doubted that Ian was really all that upset that he had to help her grocery shop. It seemed like there was something else on his mind... She kept catching him looking at her, and it made her feel insanely uncomfortable.

"We'll go fast," Amy promised.

Inside the store, Amy made a beeline for checkout.

"What are you doing?" Ian asked. "Don't you have to get everything BEFORE you pay?" He added sarcastically. Amy rolled her eyes.

"I'm just going to ask about Puffy Fluffs," Amy said. Ian snickered at the absurd name, whatever it might have been for. Amy shot Ian a glare and turned to ask a cashier about the product in question. Oops- Amy had accidentally picked lane 4, which had a ridiculously good-looking boy doing checkouts. Amy winced. Of COURSE she'd had to pick someone she was going to embarrass herself in front of. "E-excuse me?" Amy squeaked. The combined forces of Ian and this new good-looking grocery store worker was too much; Amy's stutter slipped back into her voice. "Do you k-know where the p-p-puffy fluffs are?" Amy winced again, internally, hiding behind her hair. Of course she had to be asking the most stupid question possible...

The good-looking guy (The cashier, not Ian) grinned. "Aisle 5." He instructed. "Near the tissues."

"T-thanks." Amy whispered, and fairly ran away, Ian trailing behind her, grinning now. "Oh, I'm so stupid," Amy hissed to herself when they were in aisle 5. "I always have to look dumb in front of the cute guys." She blushed. Ian rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, that guy wasn't even good-looking. And you're not stupid, Amy. You just... Hide behind your hair too much." Ian moved closer to Amy, startling her enough for her to bump into the shelf behind her and knock at least 7 tissue boxes onto the floor. Ian ignored the boxes and stepped over them. He brushed Amy's hair out of her face, gently tucking it behind her ears. He stepped back and admired his work.

"There," He said, satisfied. Amy opened her mouth but no works came out. She accidentally knocked another tissue box to the floor. Amy scrambled to pick them up, undoing Ian's work. Her cinnamon-colored hair fell right back into place around her face, partly obscuring it, just the way she liked it to. Why did Ian have to BE that way? "Here." Ian said, and handed Amy the last tissue box, which she shoved onto the shelf.

It turned out that puffy fluffs were cotton balls.

The rest of the grocery shopping went by uneventfully, really, and Amy was glad for that. But the second they were walking out the doors after paying (and Amy had certainly made sure not to pick lane 4, with the good-looking guy, and Ian seemed smugly pleased with this fact) Ian had named some random store they must go shopping at.

"Can we take these home, first?" Amy said, lugging the shopping bags. (Ian wasn't carrying any.)

Ian shrugged. "We will on the way." He hailed a taxi and slipped inside. "Come on, Amy." True to his word, he made the taxi driver stop at the Cahill's house, which was on the way to Ian's store he wanted to visit, and Amy ducked inside quickly and threw the food in the fridge and the cotton balls in Nellie's bathroom.

And then within minutes they were at the store.

"Wow," Amy mumbled. It looked... Expensive. And fancy. And out of her league. Entering the store, the saleswoman smiled at Ian and looked at Amy suspiciously. Amy gulped and ran off to hide behind a rack of dresses. Ian abandoned her for the tie section.

What classifies as a fancy dress? Amy wondered, feeling hopeless. Most girls had moms who went shopping with them. Amy didn't have anyone. Not even Ian, it appeared. She sighed and started grabbing random things off of racks, trying to escape the saleswoman's evil sneering look. Amy hurried to a changing stall, but mostly just to be able to sit down and think for a minute. She closed the door behind her and collapsed, somewhat sadly.

She was just working up the courage to try something on when she heard Ian outside of her stall.

"Did you try anything on yet?"

"No," Amy squeaked. Was he done already?

"Well try something on. Show me."

Amy had no idea WHY he wanted to see her in a dress, but she didn't like it. Starting with the fact that she knew nothing about dresses, Amy was very uncomfortable with this situation. She kind of didn't even know her own dress size. Heart pounding hard, Amy threw on the first dress.

If it had fit right, it might have been pretty. It was a simple gray dress with long sleeves. But it was too big for her and it looked kind of lumpy. Amy was already ready to quit- she was no Natalie Kabra. Couldn't she just hide in a t-shirt? Or better, a sweatshirt? With the hood up? In the corner of the room, behind a plant?

"Come on, Amy." Amy heard Ian say. "Lets see it." Amy winced. She didn't feel like even being around Ian at the moment at all, but she just obliged and opened the door. What else was she supposed to do? Ian's eyes widened, probably in horror.

"I know," Amy said softly. "I'm a disaster."

"You look like you're wearing a tunic from the dark ages." Ian shook his head at this sadly accurate description. His eyes traveled down Amy's body, like he was sizing her up. Amy's face burned. (Poor Amy.) "Take that off." Ian commanded, turning away from her. "I'll be right back."

That was actually a better reaction than I expected, Amy thought. She ducked back into the changing stall and took off the dress, relieved. She threw her t-shirt and pants back on, not even willing to try on anything else she'd grabbed. She sat in her stall, twiddling her thumbs, until she heard Ian call her again. She opened the door to the stall.

Ian looked triumphant, and he was holding the prettiest dress Amy had ever seen. Amy gasped. It was a fair gold color with long sleeves and a knee-length skirt. It had a round neck and was mostly un-patterned, except at the bottom of the sleeves, where dark, sparkling gold accents wound up the wrists of the sleeves, stopping thinly at the forearm. The bottom of the dress had the same design.

"Wow," Amy breathed. "Is that for me?"

Ian snorted. "Well, it's not for ME." Amy blushed, and Ian shoved the dress at her. He sighed slightly. "I've been on WAY too many shopping trips with Natalie... Now try it on."

"Okay." Amy felt excitement flare in her chest. She'd never seen a prettier dress, and she'd never owned anything remotely like it. Trying on this dress was kind of a big deal. Nervously, Amy slipped into the dress, struggling to zip it up herself. When she had it zipped, she stood there with her eyes squeezed shut for a moment; she was afraid that if she looked, she'd be disappointed with her reflection. She dared to peek open an eye and she gasped.

I look kind of... Nice, Amy thought, and she hadn't thought that in... Well, either a long time, or never. Amy laughed and gave a spin, admiring the dress in the mirror. It fit nicely. Not too tight, and not too loose. And the gold color kind of made her green eyes pop...

"Are you going to show me?" Ian called. Amy's heart skipped a beat. Ian was out there and he wanted to see her in a pretty dress... Tentatively Amy poked her head out. The scary saleswoman spotted her and glared at her again. Amy swallowed hard, her throat feeling dry. Seeing Ian, suddenly, made all of her confidence- and she'd barely had any- disappear.

"Show me." Ian coaxed. Amy closed her eyes again, briefly, and then stepped out.

**~Dan~**

Dan had showered off all of the smoothie.

He was in the guesthouse waiting for Natalie now. Dan gave an enormous yawn and spread out on the couch. He turned on the tv, but she wasn't really interested in watching it; it was there for background noise to his own thoughts.

Dan figured Natalie would take years in the shower getting that smoothie off. It hadn't been hard to scrub off, but Dan still kinda smelled like strawberries and bananas, and he didn't think Natalie would like those scents along with her jasmine. She'd take much more care, probably. Dan picked a throw pillow off on the floor and smooshed his face into it, feeling absolutely tired and bored. The smoothie thing was obviously the most exciting thing that was going to happen today...

It was dark beneath the cool throw pillow. Dan let his mind wander a little.

Natalie had been quite upset at the ruining of her dress from the smoothie, but he'd managed to make her laugh, anyway. Dan felt a shot of pride. He'd broken her agelast ways, if only for a moment. He'd broken her poise. Instead of being a cold-hearted, sassy Kabra, for a few minutes she'd been Natalie. Someone Dan was really starting to like. See, Dan thought to himself, Just-Natalie and Natalie Kabra are two different people...

Dan felt sleepy. He wondered if he might fall asleep on the couch, but as soon as he thought this he felt more awake. It's funny how that happens sometimes.

Maybe, Dan thought, I should call Just-plain Natalie Nat. He'd called her that once, he realized. He hadn't really meant to, but he had. In his head he'd always called her that occasionally, but the nickname hadn't left his mouth until that time yesterday when he'd been making her tea. It had just... Come out. He liked the sound of it, and at the time, he'd barely even realized he'd said it. In fact, he realized much later, into the night. And again, kind of, right now.

Dan grimaced. Was this what growing up was? Thinking about girls? Because he didn't really like it; Natalie had been on his mind far, far too much lately. He was sick of it, even when Natalie was being Nat. Dan was NOT a girls-guy. He'd never even had a friend who was a girl. It just went against his natural boy-nature. Girls, Dan thought. BAH HUMBUG.

Dan decided that to take his mind off of a certain way-too-pretty-for-Dan's-good girl who smelled like Jasmine, he was going to play a game with himself.

This particular game he didn't play often. No, it was reserved for the most severe of times. Amy, actually, had come up with it. It was a skill game, too, helping to sharpen Dan's near-perfect memory.

Dan recited vocabulary words.

See? Not something he did a lot. Dan wasn't much of a reader, but when he did read, he always learned new words and he never forgot them or what they meant. In that sense, then, he probably had the same vocabulary as Amy, maybe even larger, but he never attempted to use it, except when he played this game. He'd try to think of the most absurd words he'd ever learned, and what they meant. Sometimes he even tried to remember the first sentence he'd read or heard it in. It did require a lot of concentration, which was exactly why he used it to take his mind off of things.

Dan thought of one of his favorite words; Hippopotomonstrosesquippedal iophobia. He liked it because it was one of those 'phobia' words- words that meant 'fear of', but it was quite a joke of a word, despite being so articulate. Because what fear was it?

The fear of long words.

It was so stupid. But Dan loved it. He grinned just thinking about it.

More words passed through his mind, complex words, simple words, words in between. It seemed to work as it usually did, taking his mind of of the subject. But suddenly the words changed and took a different route. Dan started thinking of other words, words like jasmine, and silk, and posh and velvet and tea and GIRL, and Natalie. Oops, that was a name.

I think I have the plague, Dan thought.

"Do I have the plague?" Dan asked aloud, his voice muffled through the pillow that still lay on top of his face. But he received no answer. He was all alone.

_A/N_

_I've been some busy because of the holiday season. Sorry if this chapter took a long time! Yesterday was my sister's birthday, and today was my mom's! Then tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and then Christmas, so you can see what I'm saying... Lol._

_AS YALL'S GIFT, WHATEVER YOU MAY BE CELEBRATING, I TRIED TO MAKE THIS CHAPTER LONG. xD_

_Yesterday I saw the Hobbit, it was great :D_

_SO!_

_1) WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THIS CHAPTER?_

_2) DO YOU LIKE CAPS LOCK?_

_3) Have you ever tasted Vegemite? xD_

_4) Have you seen the Hobbit?!_

_MERRY HOLIDAYS! I LOVE YALL!_

_~Lovely _


	14. Unnameable Deed of Badness

_A/N_

_Lordy lords, thanks for the reviews! I'm almost to 200! *Explodes*_

_I guess most of you aren't Australian- If you were wondering, LOL, Vegemite is like an Australian vegetable extract. It's used like a spread, like on toast and stuff. I've tasted it before, it's quite bitter. It's an acquired taste xD_

_I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING WHEN I WROTE THIS CHAPTER! HELP ME! xD_

_xD_

_Disclaimer: *Operatic singing* IIII doooo noooot owwwwwwwwn theee thiiiirrrty-niine clueeeeees_

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Unnameable Deed of Badness

**~Hamilton~**

Lincoln was doing just fine.

Hamilton was surprised at the drastic appearance change in the little cat; it helped immensely, he thought though, that the cat was now completely dry and had had a few good meals.

The people at the pound had guessed Lincoln was less than a year old.

They'd scanned him for an owner chip, but he didn't have one. They'd confirmed, as the park ranger had, that he was male; he hadn't had a collar and they were guessing he didn't have an owner at all, then, also because of the manner that he'd been found in. Abandonment, they guessed, as the park ranger had; Sinead flinched when they said that. The pound workers had also weighed Lincoln and checked him for worms or any other diseases. He miraculously appeared to be doing quite well, with no illnesses, despite seeming a little rough around the edges.

Sinead was petting Lincoln happily. Hamilton admired her for a moment, a few feet away. She looked so happy. Strong feelings bloomed in his chest, and he looked away.

"So," Ham said, drifting back over to a pound worker, who's name was Chad, "Is he up for adoption now? You know, Blackberry?" The pound owners had given the black cat a temporary name; Blackberry. Hamilton hated this and he thought Sinead might, too, but when talking to the pound workers he referred to the cat as Blackberry rather than Lincoln.

"Based on the conditions he was sent in on, I'd say he'll probably be up for adoption within a few days. We're required to hold an animal for a certain time before putting it up for adoption or putting it down." Chad said. He was a nice, middle-aged man with crows feet around his twinkling eyes. Hamilton swallowed at 'putting it down'.

There was a possibility that Lincoln could be put down? Hamilton asked this question aloud. Chad raised an eyebrow.

"Two weeks is the time Blackberry has. If not..." A sad shadow passed over Chad's eyes. "He could be put down. Really, it's all about boarding room. It's a state requirement. Believe me, though, it IS better this way. It allows more animals to have a temporary home and than a real home. And sometimes the poor things are in such bad conditions that it's... Better if we let them go."

Hamilton admired Chad. There was something incredibly sad about working at the pound, and probably having to see all those animals never find a good home. But then again he probably saw a lot of cats and dogs get united with great owners, too, and that must be really great. Chad smiled suddenly.

"You're thinking about adopting Blackberry, aren't you?" Chad asked brightly.

Lincoln, Hamilton thought. His name is Lincoln. "To be honest... I don't know." Hamilton replied. He glanced over at Sinead. She'd placed the tiny cat on the floor and now she was laughing as Lincoln attacked the bottom of her pants. A curl of hair slipped out of Sinead's loose ponytail and waved over her shoulder. Sinead was... Perfect. Still laughing, she bent to pick up Lincoln. "Sinead sure does like him." Hamilton mumbled, his eyes stuck on her.

Chad laughed quietly. "She's not your girlfriend." He guessed, catching Hamilton off guard. "But you wish she was." He finished mischievously, with a polite smile. Hamilton looked at him in shock, mouth slightly agape. Chad laughed again. "It's okay, I understand. I've been married for 11 years. But believe me, I sat around just admiring my future wife for a long time before I had the courage to actually speak to her." Chad was smiling kindly, trying to help, but this information just kind of left Hamilton deflated. "It looks like you two are already on the right track."

"I don't think it's exactly that she doesn't know I like her." Hamilton mumbled. "Even though I guess she doesn't. It's more like... Well... We just don't go together, I think. Or... That she barely likes me as a friend as it is." He shifted uncomfortably.

"How do you know you don't go together if you haven't tried yet?" Chad asked, poking Hamilton in the arm to emphasize his point.

"Because I'm big and sloppy and I... I once did something really bad to her. Like, really, really bad to her. And her? She's..." Hamilton sighed. "Amazing."

Chad whistled. "You've got it bad," He commented. Hamilton turned red. "Oh- sorry, sorry." Chad added helpfully.

"It's okay," Hamilton muttered. Chad took this as a cue to go on, but this time, his words were more gentle.

"Has she forgiven you for this unnameable deed of badness?"

"Yeah," Hamilton said, sounding thoughtful. He paused for a moment. When he spoke again, his tone was lightly quiet, ringing with sadness. "But I haven't forgiven myself."

Chad's eyes softened sympathetically. "There's your problem, then." He was silent for a moment, letting this sink in. And then, so suddenly it was like he was a different person, he clapped his hands together, destroying the thoughtful and melancholy mood. "I'm sorry," He called out cheerfully, startling Sinead and Lincoln, "but Blackberry needs to get a shot."

Hamilton frowned and leaned in towards Chad. "A shot? I thought he was healthy?" He asked. It was lucky that Sinead missed that question.

Chad shot a warning look at Hamilton. "Go with it," He whisper hissed. Sinead scooped the cat into her arms and walked over to the two guys.

"A shot?" She queried. She frowned, looking worried. "I thought he was all healthy." Sinead said, stroking Lincoln's ears slightly. He gave a Saladin-esque "Mrrpp" like he was protesting.

"Vaccination," Chad replied. "So that he doesn't catch anything else. Blackberry's not up for adoption until at least late tomorrow, but Hamilton here offered to pay for a vaccination for the little guy." Hamilton looked at Chad, stunned. 'I did'? He mouthed, looking confused. Chad winked at him.

Sinead smiled, looking kind of impressed. "That's cool. I'm glad he'll be safe." Sinead smiled down at Lincoln, and ever so reluctantly, handed him back to Chad. Hamilton saw this reluctance and felt a knot forming in his stomach, again, at the thought of Lincoln- or Blackberry, whatever his name was- being put down. He was not letting that happen. He was certain, in that moment, that they would be back at this pound the moment the cat was up for adoption. Sinead glanced at her watch. "We should get going." She stroked the end of Lincoln's tail. "Bye, kitty."

She walked away and out the door, naturally expecting Hamilton to follow her.

"Woah," Hamilton burst. "What was that? Am I really paying for a shot?"

Chad laughed melodically. "Nah. I just said that to impress your girl for you." Chad grinned, and Hamilton felt himself flushing. "But I'll still give Blackberry the shot- It's on me."

"Wow," Hamilton said. "Thanks, man."

"No problem."

Sinead's reappeared at the door, poking her head through it. "You coming?" She called to Hamilton.

"Yeah! Just a sec." Hamilton ruffled Lincoln between the ears and thanked Chad one last time. Chad shooed him off with a wink, making him promise to come back and visit the cat soon.

**~Ian~**

There was no one and nothing more beautiful than her.

Ian's throat suddenly felt like it was closing up when he looked at her.

The flicker of nervous un-sureness in her eyes. How she stood sort of awkwardly, as if she was awaiting being told that she wasn't pretty. Waiting to be laughed at, even. The honest thought, clearly expressed on her face, that she wasn't pretty. She looked like a deer in head lights. A lovely, lovely deer... So unsuspecting of her own... SELF. It blew Ian's Kabra-wired mind that someone could be so atrociously humble. And yet... That was kind of what made her so beautiful.

He'd known the dress would look perfect on her. And she'd still stolen his breath away.

Amy Cahill, Ian thought with a wince, you're ruining me. Destroying me.

The golden color of the dress went along perfectly with the color of her hair and of her eyes. Her cinnamon-red-brown hair fell across her jade-green eyes, which sparkled, already beautifully bright but accentuated more so from the dress. Amy's hands clasped nervously, the golden, sparkly sleeves resting at her wrists; Ian was staring, staring.

"Does it look bad?" Amy squeaked, her nervous hands smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles.

"NO!" Ian yelled. He coughed. "Quite the opposite, actually."

Where had his cool head gone?

"Oh." Amy said. She bit her lip, and the always inevitable blush spread across her cheeks. There was a pause that was almost unbearably awkward, and you must understand; Ian Kabra doesn't DO awkward. Ian's eyes narrowed. Get a grip, he thought to himself. He would not be reduced to a pile of mush by Amy Cahill. It was too ridiculous. "Well, thanks, Ian." Amy said finally. He simply nodded in response.

Amy backed up nervously into her changing stall again, and Ian collapsed onto a bench that was a few feet away. He didn't feel like dealing with this any more. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that someone could have the ability to render him frozen, to shock him and make him feel chills whenever he looked at them... Whenever he thought about them... Whenever he was saving them from falling out of windows.

It was too foreign. It was wrong. Amy would not own him this way any longer. He would extinguish this... Crush. Ian cringed.

But when she came out of the stall dressed in her own t-shirt and jeans again, and Ian found her just as shockingly beautiful as she had been in the dress, he knew it was over.

He was over. Over the edge, and there was no more hope for him.

So what did he do know?

Without even asking Amy for her consent he took the dress from her, ignoring her confusion, and headed towards the checkout area. Mindlessly he pulled out a credit card to pay for the dress and his new tie. Amy hurried along to catch up to him.

I have three options, Ian figured. A) Tell Amy I... LIKE her. b) Ignore my feelings and continue with life as is. c) Make Amy fall for me.

B was looking pretty desirable, but in all honestly, Ian didn't think he'd be satisfied with the results of any of his options. Doing nothing, while it sounded good now, would probably just lead to many nights awake instead of sleeping. And making Amy fall for him was completely unrealistic...

Ian looked up at the saleswoman who was handing him back his credit card, along with his purchase. Her face was beautiful in a tight, perfect way. Not a speck of her ornate makeup was out of place, and her smiling, red lips were perfect, too. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun. The way she smiled at him just because he was there to spend money... Ian glanced at Amy; She would never be someone fake.

Someone like that saleswoman.

Amy was real. And she didn't care about looks. That completely ruled out option C; No, C had never been an option at all. The idea that Amy would fall for someone as shallow as Ian... Ian let his thought sink in. Shallow. He was shallow. And finally, as for the very first option he'd thought up, well, that might have been worst of all. He couldn't possibly think of anything that would be more embarrassing and painful than that. How very un-Kabra even the very thought of it was.

For now, Ian thought with narrowed eyes, I'll stick with option B.

**~Natalie~**

Natalie was feeling about 1,000 times better after showering.

She'd taken her time, too- One does not simply shower QUICKLY. That would just be awful.

Natalie changed into another dress of hers, mournfully throwing the smoothie-d one away. There was no help for it's delicate fabrics now. Maybe if she'd been back at the Kabra mansion with Isabel, and Isabel had hired the most prestigious dry cleaner in the world or something... No, now was not the time to wish for things like that. The dress was dead.

Even though she was upset over her dress, she could just get another one some time soon, so she tried not to worry. And showering really had helped her feel better.

Natalie put on a bathrobe around her new clean dress, because she didn't want to get it wet from her hair. She frowned. Drying her hair with a hairdryer was bad for it, but air-dry was horrible unless she actually had the time for it. Today, she did not, she decided, and took out her hairdryer and a hairbrush.

She gently brushed her hair out with one hand and held the hairdryer with the other. She could have HIRED someone to do this for her... Natalie sighed at the hardship that was her life. Maybe she should just pay Dan to do it or something. Okay, no, BAD idea... Natalie shuddered. She did, however, wonder what Dan could be up to right now. She didn't imagine he would ever take a shower as long as Natalie did. (Even though staying in the shower for long periods of time made you horrifically wrinkly.)

Natalie hummed to herself, turning off the hairdryer. She peeled off her robe and hung it up, then smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. She did a quick makeup job, and voila, she was a work of art, as usual. She grimaced. She wouldn't have to be repeating her usual getting-ready-in-the-morning routine if it wasn't for her ridiculous brother and Amy Cahill.

Cutting her humming short, Natalie made her way downstairs. Dan was actually lying on the sofa with a pillow on his face. Natalie frowned. He kind of looked dead.

"Dan?" She said skeptically.

"What?" Dan flipped the pillow off of his head. "Oh, you."

Natalie rolled her eyes. Apparently Dan was not dead. "I'm SORRY if I interrupted your... Beauty sleep." She smirked. Natalie flipped her long hair.

"I wasn't sleeping." Dan muttered, sitting up. Suddenly he smiled brightly, his eye slighting up. Natalie's heart skipped a beat. Gross, she thought with a wince. "I was JUST thinking- well actually I've been thinking for a while, since, you know, you took like 8.4 years to shower- that we should go to Super Awesome Fantastic Adventureland." Dan said, grinning.

Natalie gave Dan a very what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about look. "What IS that?" Natalie said, not really wanting to know.

Dan's eyes widened. "It's an amusement park! You DO have those in London, don't you?"

Natalie frowned. "Yes, but I've never been to one."

The look on Dan's face was so adamantly horrified that Natalie actually recoiled a little. "NEVER?" Dan yelled. This was like a repeat of the diet-coke-versus-regular-coke-thing- only so much worse, apparently.

"Never." Natalie sighed. Dan shot off the couch like an arrow and grabbed Natalie's wrist, speedwalking towards the door and pulling her along with him.

"We're about to change that."

_A/N_

_1) What would you do in the event of an ALPACALYPSE?_

_2) What did you get for Christmas, or whatever you celebrate? :D _

_3) Do you like yams?_

_4) Soda or lemonade? _

_~Lovely_


	15. Unlucky Break

_A/N_

_Dear gosh, I think I wrote this in slow motion. I'm like really sorry if it took a while D:_

_ALPACALYPSE: This was a random inside-y joke that I threw in there... xD Nope, I wasn't just spelling apocalypse wrong xD I stole the joke from the youtuber danisnotonfire, I'm just really obsessed with him right now... Yeah... xD_

_In other news I just FLIP OUT when I see the reviews. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you ALL (Times 40,000)_

_Disclaimer: Guess what I own the 39 Clues hahaha oh wait I DON'T ASDFGHJKL_

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Unlucky Break

**~Dan~**

Dan sure was glad he wasn't British. The lack of... FUN things Natalie had experienced was surely NOT okay. First it was a classic coke- but now, to know that she'd NEVER been to ANY amusement parks?

Downright depressing.

The amusement park- Super Awesome Fantastic Adventureland- was coming into view from where Dan sat in the back of a cab. He'd raced to call one straightaway, and he'd taken the emergency credit card from the drawer in the kitchen (What? This DEFINITELY qualified as an emergency- besides, it wasn't as if they couldn't afford it...) and within an hour, they were nearly there.

Dan sat on the edge of his seat, anticipation making him antsy. Natalie sat on the seat beside him, looking bored but maybe actually a little nervous. Dan glanced at her outfit. He wondered how Natalie's designer dress and tall heels would manage on a ride like the Gut Twister or the Body Shocks.

Dan wondered how SHE would take them.

"Yes!" Dan cheered as the cab driver pulled up. Dan hurried to pay the driver and nearly dove out of the car in his haste.

Dan breathed in the view. Even from outside the tall gates, Dan could see the beauty that was the park- the tall, twisting metals of different colors that made up the roller coasters. The little food cart workers selling hot dogs and nachos. Those stupid little games were you try to knock over the bottles and win a stuffed panda. Over-stuffed trash cans and miscellaneous items skidding across the ground, like tickets and more trash.

It was absolutely GLORIOUS.

Natalie still looked kind of scared.

Dan rolled his eyes. "Come on, Natalie." Dan urged, walking towards the entrance, where he would pay for entrance tickets. "It's going to be so much fun." Natalie frowned at him, pulling some sunglasses out of her purse to fend off the bright glare of the sun.

"Do you really believe that?" Natalie asked with a sigh. A roller coaster's cart full of screaming people shot by overhead, and Natalie flinched. She paused in her walking. "I can't go in there in these shoes, Dan."

"Ugh!" Dan muttered. "Well you should have changed your shoes, then!"

"You didn't give me a chance!" Natalie retorted. "And you didn't even ASK me if I wanted to come here." Natalie stood with her arms crossed, looking annoyed. Dan sighed. He supposed she was kinda right. He'd just been EXCITED. Dan noted nervously that Natalie was still armed with her freaky poison-spike bracelet. Was she going to use it on him?! "You're lucky," Dan realized Natalie was saying, "That I always come prepared."

To Dan's surprise, Natalie opened up her designer purse and pulled out a pair of flats. Surprising Dan more, Natalie leaned against him and used him as an anchor to pull off her high heels and put on her flats. A moment of struggling later, and she was done swapping out her shoes, her heels safely sitting inside her purse.

"Wow," Dan commented.

Natalie glared at him. "Shall we just get this over with?"

Dan grinned, taking the lead again. Within minutes they stood in the park, Dan reveling in its glory again, and Natalie squeaking in dismay as a stray bit of paper brush past her foot.

"First up: the famous Gut Twister." Dan said cheerily. Natalie looked green just at the name. Dan ignored this, determined to show the Kabra what a good time was. The Gut Twister was conveniently near the entrance. It was one of the bigger roller coasters in the park. Like Natalie's face, it was green, with big, spiraling loops. It wasn't the tallest roller coaster in the park, but as far as Dan was concerned, it's length and loops far outweighed the missing standard of great height drops.

Dan got in line and pulled a reluctant Natalie along with him. Natalie made a hissing noise similar to a cat's as people began lining up behind them. It appeared that Dan and Natalie had come in just before rush hour. "These uncivilized people keep TOUCHING me," Natalie snapped to Dan. "Don't they have any manners?"

"They're just EXCITED," Dan retorted, but he gently pushed Natalie in front of him.

The hssssshhh sound of the carts coming to a stop after making their loops reached Dan's ears. He grinned happily, ready to have his guts twisted. The few people getting off of the ride looked the usual dazed. One was groaning.

The announcer-voice gave the okay for the next sets of people to get on board. The metal gates opened automatically, and Dan gave Natalie a teeny tiny shove. She looked back at him, glaring.

Natalie sat down in the cart. Actually, it was more of an individual seat, with the kind of restraints that come down from above you and you have to pull down. Dan followed her and in about three seconds had happily strapped himself in. He looked over at Natalie. She was hard to see when he was all buckled in.

"Is this right?" Natalie asked, indicating to her restraints. Natalie's hands dropped to the buckle, like a seat belt, and she pulled it basically as tight as it could get. Dan nodded. A small spark of guilt lit inside him. Natalie really did look kind of scared... But she held her head high, and he continued to assure her that a worker always checks the seats before you go off, anyway. As soon as he said that someone came by to check by tugging on the seat belts.

"Alright, everyone, enjoy your ride on the Gut Twister." The bored voice of the announcer said. Dan bounced slightly, feeling happy and excited. The seats slowly began to move forward.

"I don't know about this, Dan," Natalie said quietly, looking down as their feet left the platform.

"It's gonna be great!" Dan cheered unsympathetically in response, still bouncing hyper-actively in his seat.

Then they shot off like an arrow.

Natalie definitely screamed loudly at the start. Dan was quite in awe of her lung power, actually. It drastically outdid his own as Dan yelled,

"YEAHHH! WOOO HOO!"

As promised, the ride definitely twisted Dan's guts up. He smiled gleefully as they raced by the little point where they always took a picture of you. His heart pounded in excitement as they neared the final loops on the green coaster.

Suddenly, in the back of Dan's mind, he realized that Natalie was holding his hand tightly. And he was kind of holding her hand back. When had THAT happened? Dan's eyes widened in shock. His hand tingled where it was met with hers. The coaster's seat-carts began to slow down.

Natalie's hand slid away from Dan's.

It was hard to see her face with the thick restraints going over his shoulders, but he worried that she was like... Dead. DEAD. What if she had really DIED? Because she couldn't handle the awesomeness? And she'd died holding his hand? The seats came to a full stop, and Dan tugged anxiously on the seat belts.

"Are you okay, Natalie?" He asked, peering around at her.

She looked a little shaken up. Her lovely eyes were wider than they normally would be, and her hair was about a tenth of a point less perfect than it usually was. (How, Dan wondered offhandedly, did ANYONE look that nice after going on a roller coaster?) Her hands shaking a teeny, tiny bit, Natalie brushed some hair out of her face and stood up. Dan hurried to follow her to the exit.

"I'm fine, Dan." Natalie said, finally responding. Well, she wasn't dead... But Dan was still imagining having to take her to the hospital or something dramatic like that. From shock, maybe. (And they hadn't even been riding the Body Shocks coaster...) But then a miracle happened.

Natalie smiled, looking quite pleased.

Dan wasn't on the Gut Twister anymore, but his stomach made him feel like he was when he looked at Natalie. Slowly, though, the corners of his mouth lifted into a grin.

"You liked it?"

"...Actually... I DID." Natalie responded. She grinned and flipped her hair, and walked down the steps of the exit.

**~Sinead~**

It seemed Hamilton and Sinead had a thing for having their lunch later in the day.

They were sitting in a pizza place (yes, pizza again) in a booth seat by the window. Outside the sun was shining vibrantly, showing no signs of stopping. Since that rain the other day there really had been nothing but sunshine.

Sinead stirred a straw around in her ginger ale. The ice cubes in the cup made clinking noises when they hit the inside of the drink glass.

"Is this meal early enough to qualify as a crossover of lunch and dinner?" Sinead mused aloud, though she didn't really care all that much. Hamilton shrugged, helping himself to another slice of pizza. Sinead smiled, feeling surprisingly content. She'd enjoyed her day a lot so far- The more she hung out with Hamilton... Well, the more she liked him. The car wash was fun. And then seeing Lincoln. And having pizza...

Hamilton was just so easy to get along with.

Suddenly Sinead's eyes widened. A little guilt crept up on her. She'd completely forgotten about Amy. Amy had a partner this week, too. Now Sinead's eyes narrowed, because Amy's partner was Ian- which meant her best friend might be in trouble, and Sinead had forgotten all about her. Sure, she was supposed to hang out with Hamilton. That didn't mean she couldn't see Amy for a little while.

Sinead was going to talk to her the day before, but she'd forgotten.

I'm a terrible friend! Sinead thought nervously. She hastily took her phone from her pocket and sent Amy a text. It said:

Hi, how are things going for you? Are you alright?

(Sinead almost always spoke literately, even while texting. Text speak made her cringe sometimes, and she could never bring herself to use it unless it was something that needed to be sent imperatively quickly.) Hamilton glanced at Sinead from across the table at her sudden hasty text shooting. Sinead smiled at him reassuringly. "Just checking something," She said. He shrugged again in response.

A moment later, Sinead got a response text.

I'm fine, u? Why wouldn't I be ok?

Sinead sighed. She needed to talk to Amy in person to make sure she was really okay, not just text her. Sinead quickly replied saying she wanted to talk to Amy. Later, at the house, maybe. Amy replied with one last 'okay'.

What if Ian was like, hypnotizing Amy or something? Brainwashing her? Sinead was making herself feel distraught. She felt like something could be happening to her friend and she wasn't even there to help, or to offer guidance or anything like that. Sinead winced. She had been out of the clue hunt when all that... Stuff between Ian and Amy had happened, but she'd heard about most of it from Amy herself, and it had seemed painful for Sinead's best friend to recount.

I'm here for you, Amy, Sinead thought. In case Ian is being a jerk.

"Are you okay?" Hamilton asked Sinead suddenly. She could see her own reflection on the side of a chrome box napkin holder. She was frowning.

"I'm just a little worried about Amy," Sinead admitted. "She's my friend, and she's stuck with Ian all week. I haven't said a word to her since the other day when we all got paired up. I just want to make sure she's not letting Ian get to her."

Hamilton smiled. "I'm sure she'd fine, Sinead. She can hold her own."

"I guess," Sinead muttered. Hamilton raised an eyebrow jokingly.

"You look like you need another ginger ale." He said. He stood up and took Sinead's glass, his legs brushing past hers when he went. Sinead's heart skipped a beat. Or maybe 2 or 3. She watched Hamilton getting her another soda.

It was funny how basically 3 minutes before she'd been thinking of how content she felt. And now, all of the sudden, the combination of remembering that she'd forgotten about Amy and a slight touch and a smile from Hamilton made her stomach twist into intricate knots. Sinead sighed. It didn't really matter that the clue hunt was over. Life continued to be difficult, anyway.

**~Amy~**

After receiving some slightly cryptic text messages from Sinead, Amy was sitting on a bench outside of a bunch of shopping outlets with Ian.

They were trying to decide what to do.

It was hard. Amy felt particularly pressured, as if, since she was the one who lived in Attleboro, SHE should be the one coming up with amazingly fun ideas. They'd pranked Dan and Natalie, they'd bought a dress and a tie. Now what? Amy's stomach growled, but she didn't mention it- shesomehow didn't think Ian was all that hungry. She chewed on her lip.

A hopeful thought sprang into Amy's head, but then she shot it down. No, she though, that was something to do during the nighttime... Later, maybe...

Amy sighed and stood up, feeling the need to stretch her legs. "Maybe we could go back to the house and... And just... Talk, Ian." Amy tried. She hoped he knew what she meant- that maybe this week wasn't about DOING a lot of things and getting to know each other. That maybe... They could just talk, for once, and try to have a good time doing so, and getting to know each other that way...

Ian looked rather skeptical. But then he actually smiled. "Alright." He consented. Amy beamed, happy they'd reached an agreement (rather than what they'd been doing before- basically her giving lame ideas and him vetoing them). "Why don't we walk back?" Ian suggested, surprising Amy a lot.

"Wow, who are you, and what have you done with Ian Kabra?" Amy joked, feeling ridiculous. But her smile didn't seem like it wanted to go away. In fact, it got wider. Ian had been really confusing in the dress store, but whenever he was in the mood to cooperate it made her life a lot easier. And... Kind of enjoyable.

Since they were walking back, Amy stepped forward to cross the street, looking both ways before crossing. But Amy didn't get very far.

Amy yelped as she went down. Her foot had caught on an uneven stretch of the cement sidewalk, and she went downwards fast. It all happened in a few seconds, and Amy put her hands out in front of herself to try and cushion the fall.

Bad mistake.

Pain shot up Amy's left wrist, immediately bringing tears to her eyes. She gasped quietly, and heard Ian coming up behind her quickly.

"Amy! Are you okay?" He asked. Obviously she wasn't, still sprawled on the street. Gritting her teeth, Amy stood, Ian helping her up and back over to the bench. "God, Amy. You'll never stop falling over, will you?" Ian commented.

Embarrassment as well as pain washed through Amy. "I-Ian, my wrist." Amy managed, trying to ignore his last comment. Ian's amber eyes widened, and Amy swore she saw a ghostly flicker of concern there. His mouth curved downwards in a thoughtful frown.

"That's definitely broken." Ian said, inspecting her arm but not touching it. Amy's left arm was quite scraped up, but it mostly looked worse than it really was. Any other pain there might have been was eclipsed by the break. Ian gently touched the surface of her skin, where it hurt, but he didn't make it hurt worse. In fact, it was kind of relaxing as her arm turned numb with the spreading pain. Ian winced, as if for her. "We need to get this fixed. Now."

He stood up again and stood by the street. A slow-moving cab was coming around the bend. Ian waved his hands frantically, trying to like, summon it.

Amy closed her eyes, trying to ignore the white-hot pricks of pain in her wrist. In its searching for distractions, Amy's mind picked out the concern that might have been in Ian's eyes- the way he'd said WE need to get that fixed; the light touch of his hand on her wrist, almost soothingly rather than making it hurt worse. Him helping her up, and-

"Hurry, Amy." Ian had hailed the slowly cab and he'd opened the door for her. Ian asked the driver, a middle-aged woman, "Where's the nearest emergency room?"

Amy didn't hear the reply. She stood and slid into the car, her right hand instinctively clutching her left one. Her wrist was already looking badly swollen. Ian shut Amy's door for her and went around to the other side and slid in. The car began to move and Amy leaned back in her seat, mostly just feeling surprised at what had just happened so fast.

"Does it hurt badly?" Ian asked, staring intently at Amy's arm. Amy laughed shakily, trying to shake off whatever she could.

"It's fine, Ian. It doesn't hurt that much."

He looked rather unconvinced, but he was quiet for a moment. "Sorry, Amy." Ian said suddenly. "You know, that I didn't catch you this time around." At this, Amy's mouth felt very dry. She couldn't tell if he was joking or not, which was kind of terrifying, so she didn't say anything. When Amy didn't respond, Ian looked away from her. "Can't you drive any faster?" Ian snapped at the woman driving. "Her wrist is broken!"

Amy slumped down in her seat, willing to succumb to all of her pain and embarrassment.

_A/N_

_IDK if I really liked how that went... xD I'll think about it more later xD_

_1) Pickles or cucumbers?_

_2) Favorite animal?_

_3) Do you hate me for breaking Amy's wrist? xD (I have a strange problem with getting my characters hurt... Yeah... I like it too much... xD)_

_4) Here's a big question: WHO do you think is going to kiss who first? *Evil laugh* (Ex, oh, Hamilton's gonna kiss Sinead!)_


	16. Close

_A/N_

_Dear lord, thank you for my readers and reviewers. Amen. xD xD_

_Of course Ham and Sinead played soccer in this chapter- that's the only sport I know ANYTHING about. xD I played it for a really long time, and my ponytail would always come loose too lol. I swear. Real facts. xD_

**SOMETHING I WANT TO ADDRESS_: _**_I really do my best to update a lot. And I really want to, as well. Every 'UPDATE!' review actually really makes me smile, and flatters me. I know it's different because this isn't a book that I've written and you can keep on reading- ya gotta wait sometimes. That being said, I don't WANT you guys to have to wait too much, and I'm doing my best :) But don't forget I'm a person with a life and all xD So if I ever don't update for a few days, I HAVE NOT forgotten about you- I'm just taking my time trying to get the chapter to be as good as I can get it, for YOU, my amazing readers :O Thank you so, so, so, SO MUCH!_

_Now enjoy this chapter, please. xD_

_Disclaimer: I no owno the 39 Cluesos, yokay? Yokay :)_

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Close

**~Natalie~**

There was nothing worse than the feeling of failure.

There were two types of failure she'd experienced today; one, she'd put an end to. The other, not so much.

The first type of failure was the feeling she'd received... Well, pretty much just by LOOKING at the roller coaster. It had scared her, and fear was one of the leading types of failure, in Natalie's opinion. But that, of course, she'd beaten. Roller coasters weren't nearly as bad as they looked. She'd been on it and even though it really seemed like something only psychopaths or poor people would do, she'd even enjoyed it.

The second failure, however, that Natalie HADN'T overcome or gotten past, was partly a result of the roller coaster. She really HAD been scared- and unfortunately, that had caused her to hold Dan's hand. Good lord, HOLD HIS HAND... Dan Cahill's hand. It was a very upsetting thought. And she'd hugged him the other day, too. She was losing it. Whatever 'it' was. And the most disturbing part was that she liked it.

Dan had been holding her hand back.

Natalie sighed. Getting crushes and all that, that was part of growing up. Getting older. But that didn't mean she had to like Dan Cahill. And she didn't really want to.

Actually, Natalie was feeling quite content with where she was. Being an adult lady had always sounded appealing, but Natalie was feeling perfectly FINE with being a kid. Maybe that was what all this amusement park stuff was about- being a kid. She didn't NEED those butterflies in her stomach when she looked at Dan. Having a relationship and all that... She didn't feel like trying to think about it at the moment. It made her nervous.

"I'm serious, though. I want to know. You DO eat sometimes, right? Like, don't you need it to survive? Or does your body run on shopping highs?" Dan was asking Natalie. He was eating a corn dog, so in this situation, the answer to his question was definitely NO. Dan was on his third corn dog, and Natalie was starting to suspect Dan would have one of those freaky accidents where a kid gets a heart attack at a young age or something.

Natalie rolled her eyes.

"We went on a lot of rides before," Natalie commented, "but it's been an hour and you've eaten about 4 corn dogs." She shuddered.

"Three," Dan corrected, eyes narrowed.

"Fine fine, whatever. Let's just go do something, okay?"

"Alright." Dan paused in an exaggerated state of thoughtfulness. "Well. We've really gone on all the major attractions. So we could do something else, I guess. There are tons of little street games and stuff." He paused again, and then brightened. "Unless you feel like riding the big rides again. Cause I'd totally do that."

"No!" Natalie snapped, her stomach twisting. Yes, she'd liked the rush of the rides- but she had a feeling there was only so much she could take, and especially with Dan. She didn't feel like having another hand-holding incident, or something worse. Besides, how on earth could Dan eat so much and then want to go on more rides?! "I mean, no. Lets try the 'street games'." Natalie frowned. "Or, you know, we could just go home."

"Pfft," Dan said, finishing his corn dog and standing. He threw the stick into a nearby trash can. "We aren't going home before dark." Dan said, grinning. "Come on, that'd be no fun!" He chided. Natalie sighed.

"Whatever, maniac."

**~Ian~**

Ian thought the waiting room at the hospital was kind of disturbing.

It was probably just the combination of the cheap vinyl seat cushions, the ugly green carpet, and the stares of other people waiting, but Ian was kind of horrified by the whole thing. Extremely peasant-like, the whole thing was.

It was weird because everyone else in the room didn't appear to have any physical damage, or not that Ian could see. Well, not that he was really looking, either, but still. Ugh.

But they had to wait. WAIT. Hence, the waiting room- Amy had broken a bone and she had to WAIT to get it fixed? How audacious. She required medical attention and she was sitting in a stupid plastic chair that squeaked when she moved in the slightest, obviously completely uncomfortable. Ian's face had taken on a frown and it was starting to feel quite permanent.

They'd been there for over two hours, just... WAITING. They'd checked in in the beginning, and were told that they should notify and adult to come and wait with them. Ian had texted Nellie on Amy's phone, but for some reason, Amy's legal guardian hadn't shown up yet. Nellie had seemed quite concerned through text, so why on earth wasn't she there?

In the meantime, Ian had absolutely no idea what HE was supposed to be doing.

The high-class part of him was begging him to ditch Amy and run out of the scary germ building. But that was absurd, he'd never abandon her in that cowardly fashion. He supposed he should strike up conversation, to take her mind off of her wrist, maybe, but he wasn't the best at those types of things. Ian sank down a little more in one of those idiotic squeaky chairs, trying to think.

"Does it hurt any less than it did before?" Ian said, and he considered this a good-enough effort. Amy seemed almost dazed when she answered.

"...Well, I don't know. About the same as before, I guess. But really, its not so bad." Amy replied.

"It looks like it hurts a lot." Ian commented with a huff. What WAS he supposed to say? He did NOT like this situation at all. He hadn't had enough time to consider his feelings for Amy. He liked Amy a lot, but he shouldn't, and he didn't want to, and she'd broken her wrist and he couldn't think of a single decent thing to say to take her mind off of it, and all he wanted to do was kiss her because-

UGH! Ian thought. How DID one look so nice in this horrible lighting and with a broken wrist?

Ian's fingernails were digging into the armrests of his obnoxious chair.

I. HATE. THIS.

"It's okay, Ian." Amy smiled, and Ian realized she was answering his earlier comment. Ian tried to relax, settling back into the chair. He was losing his mind, and the idea of going to sleep was getting really appealing, even though it wasn't anywhere near the time he usually retired to bed. He wanted someplace to think, alone.

Amy yawned. Some old homeless-looking man entered the room, shuffling along and coughing voraciously. Both Amy and Ian startled upon is arrival. Ian shot the man a look of complete distaste.

"I can't WAIT to get out of here." Ian hissed under his breath.

"Ian... Why isn't Nellie here?" Amy asked Ian, a hand still protectively wavering over her injured wrist lightly. Her face showed her concern, making Ian's face mirror hers. "I'm kind of... Well, worried. And do you think we'll be here long? Because I had... Uhm, plans, I guess. For later."

Ian frowned. In his head he assessed the way Amy asked HIM. As if he would know? Hardly. Of course, he WAS always coming off as someone who knew a whole lot about everything... Still, Ian didn't know the answer to either of her questions, and he didn't see how he could fake an answer. So Ian chose to try to be optimistic. Purely for Amy's sake.

"I'm sure your Nellie is... Coming." Ian paused. "Really, there must be a reason. She seemed much too worried not to be here as soon as she could." Amy brightened a little when Ian said this. "As for the time, though... I honestly don't know. It could be a while but..." Ian hesitated. "Well, I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here. With you." Ian mentally punched himself and rushed to add, "What are these 'plans' you had?"

"Oh!" Amy smiled faintly. "Well, it's just a little place I thought we could go. Uhm, if you're okay with that. I mean I just thought maybe you'd like it. I- Well I was wondering if this..." Amy's right hand pointed towards her left, "...Might ruin that. Take up the rest of today. Or tonight, rather."

Ian raised an eyebrow, wondering what she could have in mind.

"I don't know, Amy." Ian said. "Hopefully, though," He said, leaning slightly closer to her, "They'll get a cast on you fast, and you can take me to your mysterious little place."

**~Hamilton~**

"Are you sure there's nothing on your mind?" Hamilton asked, throwing a soccer ball up into the air and then catching it.

"Yes, I'm sure," Sinead replied, looking a little cranky or something. Gosh, Hamilton thought, girls are so up and down. One minute Sinead looked happy and the next she kind of was making Hamilton think she might stick him in the neck with a fork.

They were back at the Cahill's place, on the wide stretch of grass between the guesthouse and Grace's mansion. It was getting later in the day, the sun just barely hinting that it might soon begin its descent in the sky. Hamilton had driven Sinead back to the house after they were done eating. ("Why do I never get to drive?" Sinead had asked.)

Hamilton had an idea in his head- Sinead had taught him how to play chess, right? So it was Hamilton's turn to teach Sinead something. Hamilton picked soccer.

He wasn't trying to be sexist or anything by choosing a sport that didn't use hands. In fact, he actually had it in mind that he was being a gentleman by picking a sport that might be easier for Sinead- Hamilton figured she'd be and excellent runner, with her long, toned legs. Somehow he really couldn't picture her tackling anyone. Unless they were like, a bad guy. Cause then she'd totally kick butt... It'd be kinda awesome to see Sinead tackle a bad guy...

"Why are we doing this?" Sinead asked, tightening her ponytail and bringing Hamilton back to the present. He chuckled.

"BECAUSE Sinead. You need an introduction to the amazing world of sports."

"What if I told you I already knew how to play soccer?" Sinead asked, her hands on her hips. Hamilton frowned, not really having considered this. He knew Sinead and Amy 'worked out' (not at all, by Hamilton's standard) in case there were Cahill family emergencies or whatever, but he hadn't thought that Sinead might have played sports before.

Really, this was probably the result of the amount of times the Holt family had been insulted for being from the Tomas branch. They got teased so much about sports that it didn't register to Hamilton that any of the other Cahills still might have played them.

"Do you? Know how to play?"

"I know a thing or two."

Hamilton determined that they'd play a simple one-on-one version of the game, their main focus on getting the soccer ball between the other person's goal set of cones. Sinead tightened her ponytail again.

"You can start with the ball," Hamilton said politely.

They stood facing each other, the ball at Sinead's feet.

There was a pause of silence between them. The sun was casting golden rays all over the yard, defining every blade of green grass and making every little shadow quite evident. There was a tiny breeze, and Hamilton stiffened. He'd have to go way, way easy on Sinead, probably. So that she didn't feel bad. Hamilton smiled. Going easy on her didn't mean he couldn't win.

"Start!" Hamilton yelled.

Sinead was obviously familiar enough with a soccer ball, which was surprise number one. She definitely had correct control over the ball.

Her red ponytail bounced as she kicked the ball forward, towards the makeshift goal, but not too far forward, lest she lose the ball instantly. Hamilton sprang forward, but Sinead was really quick. She instantly dashed around Hamilton and stole the ball back almost before he even had it. With a nice, well-aimed kick, Sinead's shot soared the ball right through the cones.

Hamilton had to pick his jaw up off the ground.

"Woah! Where did you learn that?" He asked, seriously impressed. Sinead grinned.

"I told you, I knew a thing or two." She said mysteriously.

"Fine then, forget it, I'm NOT going easy on you." Hamilton said, whistling. "And I promise, that WILL be the only goal you get."

Minutes passed quickly. Two pairs of feet raced back and forth on the grass as a ball bounced between them and sometimes between the cones marking the goal. Hamilton was winning, but he'd been wrong. Sinead had definitely scored more goals than one.

Ham really had given up on going easy on her. She didn't need it; she was quite good. Hamilton decided that her faults were with laces-style kicks, and sometimes she had trouble stealing the ball back when Hamilton had it. The only skills that Hamilton held off on was using his size to his advantage. For once in his life he was in a sporting match where he didn't want to knock the other player flat over.

Sinead's strength was definitely her speed. She was very agile, which was what kept Hamilton from kicking the ball straight into Sinead's goal from whatever distance away he was.

The score was Hamilton 9 and Sinead 5 when Sinead had a particularly excellent kick, similar to her first one. Hamilton saw her sneaker-ed foot power the ball with such intensity that the loose elastic band holding her hair back fell out, making it so that her hair went down to her shoulders. The ball, however nicely driven it was, bounced and landed just shy of the goal on the outer side.

"Close!" Hamilton called, grinning.

"Yeah," Sinead agreed, panting lightly. Her eyes locked with Hamilton's. "Close."

At the same moment, Hamilton and Sinead both dove for the ball.

But Hamilton and Sinead were headed the same direction from two different angles- they smacked into each other.

"Woah!" Hamilton yelled. Within the span of one second he'd accidentally broken the only rule he'd set for himself about going easy on Sinead; his entire force smacked into her frame, knocking her off balance. Ham himself hardly felt the impact, but he didn't think that would be the case for Sinead. His quick reflexes grabbed her hands and pulled her back up, her arms tangling in his. "Are you alright?" Hamilton asked frantically, afraid the slam might have done some damage.

Surprise was registering on Sinead's face, but thank goodness, she didn't look hurt. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Good." Hamilton said.

Sinead's hair was vividly red in the light of the dying sun. It framed her face in a bouncy, wavy-curly way. Her eyes, as they always did, glinted with intelligence Hamilton would never be able to match. And in that moment it was painfully evident to poor Hamilton Holt that he didn't stand a chance under the sun with Sinead Starling.

Honestly, though, that didn't stop him from wanting to tuck her fiery hair behind her ear.

"Oh- we should..." Sinead murmured, and she stepped away, disentangling herself from Hamilton. A surge of embarrassing disappointment spread through Hamilton.

"Yeah," He said faintly, not really agreeing at all.

_A/N_

_YEAH so I just wanted to say, I'm doing my best to make this a romance story, I mean honestly I never found that I was particularly good at writing that stuff. I hope it's not all like way too mushy xD As usual I hope you liked it a lot, did ya notice any mistakes?_

_1) Gummy worms or bears?!_

_2) Favorite movie(s)?_

_3) Ever had Pocky? :D_

_4) WHAT'S YOUR NEW YEARS TRADITION?_

_HAPPY NEW YEARS I LOVE YOU ALL- I HOPE YOU STICK WITH ME WELL INTO THE NEW YEAR! I REALLY LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! :D_

_~Lovely_


	17. Stargazers

_A/N_

_Hello darlings, how are ya?_

_Way back in chapter 6, I made a mistake- I accidentally said Sinead was rooming with Reagan and Madison, and then also said she was rooming with Natalie. To clear that up, Sinead is rooming with Natalie, and I fixed the mistake. A _**HUGE**_ thank you to magicdemi-god223 for pointing that out. (This also simply means Reagan and Madison are rooming with one another.)_

_NOW GET READY FOR THE _**AMIAN. **_ARE YOU READY? BECAUSE THERE'S A BUNCH IN THIS CHAPTER LIKE I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING WHEN I WROTE THIS I WAS EATING POP ROCKS SO LIKE SUGAR RUSH OR SOMETHING AND YEAH JUST GET READY FOR THE AMIAN OKAY OKAY LETS DO THIS OH MY GOD_

_Disclaimer: I never shall own the 39 Clues, writing disclaimers gives me the blues! I sit at my computer and roam this fandom, wishing I owned the 39 Clues, and being really random. I'm terrible at rhyming, I apologize, now while I have your attention, don't listen to the Evamy and Jamy shipper's LIES! (Sorry adamant Amian fangirl here and... Yeah... I was just trying to rhyme. I'm really sorry you had to see that.)_

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Stargazers

**~Dan~**

Dan's feelings for Natalie were like a roller coaster; all over the place.

Ew, that sounded so wrong. 'Feelings for her'.

But it was true- It was hard to deal with this kind of thing. Dan didn't have any experience with girls! Why did his first real crush have to be NATALIE KABRA? What had he done to deserve that?

It was horrifying. It was terrible. It was- bad. Bad, bad, bad... But at the same time, Dan was certainly done with denying it. It wasn't getting him anywhere. Okay, so, he liked her. Now that he admitted it to himself, maybe he could get over it?

It was dark now in the amusement park, but festive lights were hung up everywhere. Dan and Natalie had ridden all the good rides, and they'd played some cheap, corny games, too. Now they were kind of wandering aimlessly beneath the many colored, flashing lights.

Natalie was surprisingly tolerable. She was enjoying this experience so much more than Dan would have ever guessed she would. She must have really been in a great mood, because she was even smiling, and occasionally pointing things out. It was kind of blowing Dan's mind. As they walked, Dan tried to come up with something to talk about with Natalie.

It was funny, because not so long ago she'd been asking to go home, and Dan had wanted to stay. It was a little of the opposite now. Dan wasn't liking the inside-out feeling he got from looking at Natalie.

"So... You've really never done this before?" Dan asked, gesturing around them. He stopped by a cotton candy vendor and eyed it. What? Just because Natalie was making him nervous didn't mean he wasn't hungry.

"No, I haven't." Natalie confirmed. She smiled at Dan and he felt like he'd just drunk coke with mentos. "But I'm glad I did."

"Me too." Dan said.

And then fate decided to make the night a little worse on Dan's nerves.

"Hey." Natalie hissed suddenly, grabbing Dan's shoulder. "Isn't that that Will guy? From the..." Natalie shuddered. "McDonald's?" Natalie pointed a finger and beneath a tall lamplight were three tall figures. Yup- Will Goldmin, along with Tommy Becker again. Now Dan's stomach was really flipping.

"Ugh," He groaned. "Let's just leave before they see us." Once again, this plan didn't work; Will's wandering eyes spotted Dan and Natalie before they had a chance to flee, and Will's eyes lit up. The doofus sauntered over like he was king of the world or something. Dan frowned. "Well, never mind that idea," Dan muttered, definitely not in the mood for a Will-confrontation.

"It's Dan-o!" Will said cheerily, and Dan flinched. But he realized something- Natalie's hand hadn't moved from his shoulder. In fact, it had relaxed, and she moved closer to him.

"What are you doing?" Dan whispered. Natalie rolled her eyes.

"Play along," She responded, not answering his question.

Dan cleared his throat and attempted to do the same with his thoughts. "What do you want, Will?" He said. Will frowned at him the way you might frown at a pesky bug. That really made Dan's blood boil.

"You're always so wired up, Dan-o. Chill." Will said, rolling his eyes. "I just came to talk to your pretty friend again. It's Natalie, right?"

"Some people," Natalie whispered in Dan's ear, "Are REALLY thick. Doesn't he remember my rejection?" Natalie sighed and turned to Will and his approaching entourage-of-one. "Hi." She said blandly.

Will looked at Natalie's hand on Dan's shoulder.

"Are you like... With him?" Will said, the evident disbelief in his voice directed towards Natalie. "Are you DATING the dweeb?" Will's sidekick, Tommy, laughed stupidly.

"Why do you care?" Natalie said coolly, and Dan's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Natalie hadn't corrected Will- she hadn't screamed in horror, or punched Will in the face for even dreaming of saying such a thing... No, she hadn't reacted like that at all. In fact, the way she responded... Well, it kind of made it sound like they WERE dating.

Will frowned. "I just think someone as beautiful as you should be going out with someone less..." Will looked at Dan. "Dorky, and, well, unfortunately ugly."

Dan's hands balled into fists. What kind of a person would say something that rude?

Dan was already aiming his fists at Will's jaw, ready to take a swipe, but Natalie gently held him back by the shoulders. She's right, Dan thought, reluctantly dropping his fists. If I swing, Will wins. Will laughed at Dan being held back.

"I don't know." Natalie shrugged, beginning her response to Will. Dan silently promised her with his eyes that he wouldn't hit Will. Natalie gave the slightest of a nod back and let go of him. She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I'm certain Dan is better looking that you." Natalie's perfect nose wrinkled in a disdainful expression. "Has anyone ever told you your eyes are too close together?" She asked. She tapped her lips thoughtfully. "And they're a rather undistinguished shade of brown, too. Now, Dan's eyes- well, they aren't too close together, and they're the prettiest shade of green that I've ever seen. Wouldn't you agree?" Natalie smiled.

Dan wished he had a camera, because Will's expression was golden.

Will stumbled back, as if Dan really had hit him. He stared at Natalie. "You'd really pick him over ME? Because I would have dated you." Will glared. "Key words there are 'would have'," He added, sneering. Natalie's smile only widened, and she lifted a delicate hand in a wave.

"Bye." She said in a mockingly friendly tone.

"C'mon, let's leave these freaks alone." Will muttered. He and Tommy scrambled away.

Dan burst out laughing. He changed his mind- this was a good night after all.

"That was great," Dan cheered, a huge smile breaking out on his face. "Even better than last time."

Natalie smirked. "I know, I'm awesome." Dan actually felt like agreeing with her. (But of course he didn't- not out loud, anyway.) Natalie leaned entrancingly closer to Dan, still smiling slightly. "Dan?" She said.

"Yeah?" Dan blinked quickly, flustered.

"It IS getting late. Can we go home now?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah," Dan agreed. Natalie gave one last smile and stepped away from him, heading back in the direction of the park gates. Dan realized he was holding his breath and let it out. Natalie was so... Dan couldn't think of the exact word he was trying to find. But she'd played it so smoothly when Will came along, both times... And when she'd said that compliment about his eyes...

Dan involuntarily felt himself smiling. He knew Natalie had only said that to help aid in the process of getting rid of Will, but still.

The nicest shade of green...

Dan sighed, the smile sliding off of his face. He followed Natalie, glad that they were on their way home.

**~Sinead~**

They'd been so close.

Just thinking of that moment with Hamilton, out there on the makeshift-soccer field, made her wince.

Sinead twisted a curl of auburn hair around her fingers. She really only ever had her hair out of a ponytail when she going to sleep, or in the shower or something.

Sinead was in the room she was sharing with Natalie, and it was a little early, but she was tired and ready to sleep. Natalie was nowhere to be found, but Sinead didn't really care that the Kabra wasn't there. In fact, she hardly even noticed. There was a lot on Sinead's mind.

She hadn't really ever had a boyfriend. It seemed like guys were always hitting on her wherever she went, but those kids of guys... Well, a lot of the times, those guys were pigs. Sinead didn't see how any girl would ever want to go out with one of those guys who makes obnoxious cat-call noises and whistles and all that. It was just rude. And yeah, it was true that some nice guys had liked her, too. But she'd never really returned the feelings.

Love had always seemed kind of illogical to Sinead. Yes, she enjoyed romance movies immensely, but maybe that was because she was missing something in her own life. The movies... Well, they were nice, but definitely not... Real. Sinead wasn't very close to her parents, but growing up, it had never seemed to any of the Starling children that their parents had ever been in love. It was more like they tolerated each other. Maybe that, Sinead thought, is the root of my disbelief.

Sinead had a nice view of the window from where she lay, and she could see the bright moon in the sky. She sighed thoughtfully.

After that... Incident with Hamilton, their game had sort of ended. Just like that. It was getting darker and they'd both agreed to go inside, and they went their separate ways...

Sinead felt like she'd gone through her usual bedtime routine in slow motion, dragging it out so that when she at last came to rest in her room it would be a suitable hour to sleep.

She reached out a grabbed a pillow lying next to her and squeezed it in her arms, feeling comfort in holding onto something solid. Why couldn't things just be easy? Or maybe they were easy, but she was making everything hard?

Was she?

Again, Sinead winced. She'd accepted Hamilton as a friend. And he was a great guy. He was really, really nice, and sweet, and thoughtful, but she didn't... Like him like... THAT. Like, the like-like way. Right? Because she couldn't. It just wasn't going over well in her mind. It felt like when you're doing a jigsaw puzzle, and you just can't seem to find the right pieces to fit together, and out of sheer frustration, you try to jam two ill-fitting pieces together.

They didn't match.

So why, then, had it felt so nice to stand so close to him? Why did she have to like the way it felt when he looked at her?

**~Amy~**

Amy had fallen asleep, and when Ian woke her up, she'd gone and gotten a cast set on her arm.

The actual process of getting the cast on only took about 15-20 minutes, which Amy could tell bothered Ian for the amount of time they'd been waiting. That didn't bother Amy, though the fact that Nellie had never showed up did. Ian had finally gotten a text back from Nellie when Amy was asleep. It was a hasty-looking message that pretty much just said she couldn't make it, but she hoped Amy was okay. (Ian said he hadn't wanted to wake Amy up because it wasn't worth worrying about.)

Amy had wanted to go home- and find out if Nellie was there- but Ian had persisted that she take him to the secret place she'd mentioned earlier.

Sitting in the back of a cab- whose driver Amy had whispered the location to- Amy could feel her stomach turning in absolute nervousness. She completely, completely regretted ever mentioning that she knew a cool place they could go. It was true, she DID know a place, but the more she thought about it, the more sure she was that Ian wouldn't like it, like when they'd gone to the library.

The cab hit a bump in the road and Amy's heart skipped a beat. I'm upsetting myself, she thought. Nellie's probably fine, and... And it doesn't matter if Ian doesn't like where we're going.

But she was so on edge that when Ian put his hand on her arm she jumped nearly a mile in her seat. "Amy, relax." Ian said. "I was just going to ask you if we're close to this mystery place- we've been in the car for a while, and this doesn't look like your Attleboro anymore."

Amy's racing heart slowed a bit. She took a deep breath and glanced out the window. "Yeah," She responded, glad her voice stayed relatively steady. "We're almost there."

Ian was quiet for a moment and then asked, "So, why IS it a secret, anyway?"

Amy was glad that it was dark in the car, too, because then Ian couldn't see her blushing. "I guess it's because... I didn't want you to judge it, or make assumptions before we got there. You should see it and then give your opinion."

Ian didn't say anything for a moment. Then he gave an, "Alright."

"Oh!" Amy said suddenly. Loud enough for the taxi man to hear, she said, "We'll get out here, thank you." Amy handed him money, including a tip. She unbuckled her seat belt, her stomach still full of butterflies, and was quite glad the driver didn't question why she had asked to stop here. "Come on, Ian." Amy urged, opening her car door with her un-casted hand and sliding out. Ian followed her and the taxi drove away. In the bright moonlight, Amy could see Ian's expression. He looked quite skeptical already, making Amy wince.

They were standing on the road, looking at an uphill forest.

"What are we doing here?" Ian asked with a frown.

"Y-you'll see." Amy mumbled, and began to walk up the hill, winding between the trees.

They trekked silently, and Amy was quite happy that Ian didn't complain much about their surroundings. (Only a little!) They'd been walking for about 4 minutes when the ground started to get rockier, shapes rising out of the ground to meet them; some jagged, some smooth, the surface of rocks and stones. The ground began to level out, too, becoming flatter again rather than uphill.

"Okay, we're here," Amy said breathlessly as she stepped around the last tree.

A bit of a clearing spread out in front of them. The ground was covered by big, smooth rocks. Amy started towards the biggest one, her favorite one. Ian stepped up beside her and in one graceful movement was on top of the rock. Amy frowned, unsure of how to get up her wrist and part of her hand in a cast. She blushed. "Ian, could you...?" Ian's hand dropped down before she finished her sentence, and he helped her up. When Amy was standing beside him, Ian turned to see what lay beneath them.

"Wow," Ian murmured, and, thank goodness, Amy thought, he sounds impressed.

Amy loved this place. She'd found it accidentally a few months before, when she'd been on a camping trip with Dan and Nellie. She'd gotten a little lost, and she'd stumbled upon the rocks. Assuming they'd be a good lookout point to find out where she was, Amy had climbed up one, and to her ultimate surprise, the view she got was of the edge of a cliff- and the city of Attleboro far below.

The lights of the small city twinkled merrily. Their brilliance was only outdone by the stars- with the sky clear overhead now that there were no trees, the stars were visible in the dark indigo sky, ringed with forest trees at the edge of Amy's vision. Amy breathed in the pine-y forest smell and sat down a safe distance from the edge of the cliff.

This was a good place to come and clear your thoughts. It really was beautiful, a surprisingly lovely collision of nature and man-made settlement. Ian sat down beside Amy, and she smiled at him nervously.

"Do you like it?" Amy asked, her heart doing flips in her chest. She felt ridiculous. She couldn't really say why she'd thought to take him here anyway. No, she could, and she knew it: But thinking it made her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She'd wanted to... Impress Ian.

Silly idea, Amy thought nervously. But Ian was actually smiling, too.

"I do." He said, and Amy breathed a sigh of relief. "How did you find this place?" Ian asked, sounding genuinely interested. Amy recounted the story, and Ian nodded. There was a pause. "So," Ian said rather conversationally, leaning back on his hands, "Can you see your house from here?"

"No," Amy responded with a tiny giggle. "I can't tell what anything is from way up here." Amy squinted down below, and when she brought her eyes back up, Ian was looking at her intensely, the way he had during the fireworks show. Knots were forming right and left inside of Amy, and rather anxiously, she felt the need to ask, "What?"

Ian laughed. "Nothing," He said, and Amy wondered why he always had to do that. It must be because he knows it bothers me, Amy thought, uncomfortable. Suddenly Ian leaned back all the way, lying against the rock face. "Excellent view this way, too." He commented. Amy was surprised he would do something like that. She was even more surprised when Ian's hand brushed her own. "Try it," He said.

"Oh, I-" Amy started, but she didn't really know what she meant. She slowly lowed herself down so that she could see only the stars above her. She stared without blinking. The stone beneath her was cold, and she shivered slightly.

"Hey, Amy?"

Amy's face flooded with light pink blush when Ian said her name. "Y-y-yes Ian?" Amy said, completely uncomfortable being this close to him. His amber eyes looked even prettier in the moonlight. Ian watched her carefully, and finally phrased his question.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful?" Ian asked quietly, the tinniest bit of hesitation in his voice. He seemed like he was trying to hold back and let go at the same time, like he was having a war with himself. "Because if they haven't... They should have."

Amy frowned. Her scrambled brain tried to conjure up a message to convey, but she couldn't make sense of anything. Thoughts began running rampant through her head. This reminded her a little too much of Korea, and- wow, that stung. Amy bit her lip. Korea. This reminded her of when Ian had made fun of her there by calling her lovely.

"W-w-why do you always have to do that?" Amy mumbled, turning away from him. "It's... It's mean, Ian."

Ian frowned at Amy's expression.

Amy suddenly felt like crying. It seemed that within a matter of seconds she'd been proven to that this week of one-on-ones would never work the way she wanted them too. Lying here in this place, one of her favorite places ever, that she'd trusted Ian enough to take him to, she thought this. That it didn't matter- that the Cahills could never get along the way she hoped, the way she dreamed, because Ian was mocking her the same way he had when they were enemies during the clue hunt. They would never change.

Ian would never change.

Amy's gaze hardened. She decided she wasn't going to cry. Not in front of Ian, at least. Maybe... When she was at home. ALONE. But not in front of him. She wouldn't give him another reason to make fun of her, to see that he'd penetrated her safety walls, and that he would always be able to.

"I mean it, though." Ian said. Amy wondered if this was like in the dramatic tv shows, and she was supposed to slap him or something. Amy sat up quickly, pulling her knees up to her chin. She stared down at the city of Attleboro- already, there were less lights on, the small city getting ready to go to sleep. Amy didn't dare to look at Ian. "Amy," Ian said, and it hurt a little that she imagined his voice to be truthful. He'd sat up, too. "I meant it. I wasn't just saying that."

"Sure. Whatever." Amy muttered. The threat of tears still wavered like hot prickles behind her eyes. Amy glanced at her watch, squinting her eyes to see it in the moonlight. It was getting really late. Suddenly Amy's pocket bzzzzed with an incoming text. Amy gratefully took her phone out and scanned the text, happy for an excuse not to look at Ian, and hopeful that it might be from Nellie.

It wasn't from Nellie. It was from Sinead, and it said:

I can't sleep, and you're not at the house. Where are you? I need to talk to someone.

It was a bit cryptic, like the messages Amy had received from her earlier. She frowned. Whatever, the text was the perfect excuse to go home. Amy found the number of a cab company and called it, ordering a cab to drive down the forest street below and pick up the two kids waiting by the road. Then she stood up, silent, and started walking down the hill.

The whole time, Ian was quiet, following her downwards. When they got to the bottom of the hill there was an almost unbearably silent period of about 2 minutes, and when the cab she'd ordered finally came into view, Amy was so relieved to see it she felt like hugging the driver.

Amy slumped in her car seat, curling up near the window. She felt like getting as far away from Ian as she could.

When she got home, she'd have a nice talk with Sinead, and maybe some hot chocolate, too.

_A/N_

_Good news, yall. SOON I will be posting a) a new two-shot AND b) a new, multi-chapter AU story :D So keep your eyes peeled, okay? I'm SO SORRY this chapter was hard for me to write for some reason :/_

_1) What was your favorite part of this chapter? (I liked Amy's part, but it was kinda depressing. xD)_

_2) Do you do really weird fangirly things when you read- such as hyperventilate, smack the book/computer, make weird noises that are between laughs and sobs, yell at the characters, etc?_

_3) Do you have things decorating your walls? (I have pictures, mostly that I drew, some family/friend pictures, and these awesome masquerade masks)_

_4) Frozen yogurt or ice cream? :)_

_~Lovely_


	18. Regrets and the Return of the Gravy Tea?

_A/N_

_Hey everyone! Guess what? I LOVE YOU :O_

_You guys are so amazing :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues. I promise that if I did... Amy would CERTAINLY belong to Ian and Ian would belong to Amy. Excuse me. *Bursts into tears*_

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Regrets, and the Return of the Gravy Tea?

**~Natalie~**

Natalie woke up and showered in the Cahill's tiny bathroom. Then she changed into a simple but very classy green dress.

Green, Natalie thought, brushing out her hair. Green like Dan's eyes.

As she brushed, she thought about the day before. The whole amusement park thing... Good lord. It was crazy. Wasn't it crazy? She'd ridden a roller coaster, sort of held hands with Dan, and she'd complimented him. Sure, she was just doing that to get rid of that creeper-guy Will, but whatever. Deep down inside Natalie knew she'd completely meant what she said about Dan's eyes.

Today was day 4 out of 7. Could she handle any more days with Dan? Or would she turn into a psycho? She honestly wasn't sure what the outcome of her sanity would be.

When Natalie reentered the bedroom, Sinead Starling was awake and out of bed, and her hair was down for once. Natalie watched for a moment before Sinead stuffed her hair into a ponytail.

"You know," Natalie said, surprising Sinead and leaning against the door, "Your hair looks nicer down. Why do you always put it up?" Natalie winced internally. Was she 'getting nicer'? No, she decided, she wasn't. She was just stating a fact. The Starling girl really did look better with her hair down. Kind of... Almost as pretty as Natalie. But Natalie didn't say that out loud.

"Oh, hi, Natalie." Sinead murmured, looking at her reflection in the mirror in front of her. Sinead paused, and then turned away from it. "Do I really look better with my hair down?" She asked suddenly.

Natalie felt delight bubble up inside of her. She could never stop that feeling- she just got HAPPY when she saw people caring about the way they looked. That even though someone like Sinead Starling dressed badly and always wore atrocious long-sleeved shirts and sweaters in ugly, dull colors, she STILL cared about the way she looked- she just didn't know how to go about it, Natalie thought.

Frankly, she didn't understand how anyone could ever not- looks were first impressions. Right away they told other people who you were and what you cared about. And if you cared about the way you looked, and dressed in a polished manor, people were less likely to rub you the wrong way. That, Natalie thought, was a fact, too.

Unless of course you were applying Dan Cahill to that theory- but he didn't count. He didn't apply to anything.

But anyway. Natalie smiled. On television the girls were always giving each other makeovers. Natalie hadn't ever really done that. She wondered if this was an opportunity. Given the circumstances... Natalie sized Sinead up. Sinead was kind of tall and lanky, but not bad. She wouldn't fit into anything of Natalie's, though, so this would have to be strictly a hair-and-makeup makeover. Unfortunately, no clothes.

"Sit." Natalie commanded, pointing to a chair. Sinead frowned.

"Okay." She said, and sat. Natalie smiled and picked up a hairbrush. She pushed the mirror- which thankfully was on wheels- in front of the sitting Sinead. Natalie frowned.

"Right. So..." Natalie pulled the hair elastic out of Sinead hair. God, it looked like it was from the dollar store. Natalie wrinkled her nose and threw the hair elastic behind her and began brushing Sinead's hair carefully. "You're hair looks like it's in nice condition, but you might need a slight trim on the ends." Natalie advised, inspecting a lock of the red hair.

Sinead looked rather surprised. "Uh, okay." She said.

In a moment, Natalie was done with Sinead's hair. She smoothed it out and arranged it so that it fell over Sinead's shoulders.

"See?" Natalie said, satisfied. Sinead looked stunned, as if she'd never really much considered having her hair down and than actually trying it. "Why do you always have it up, anyway? You're lucky you do it loosely, because you could be putting a lot of strain on your hair. And that could totally cause breakage."

"Well, it's easier to have my hair up." Sinead said, still staring at her reflection. "My hair... It gets in my face a lot, so I-"

"Pshh," Natalie said dismissively. "I'm going to do your makeup now."

Before Sinead could object, Natalie pulled out her golden makeup case and started laying out expensive designer brushes and makeups. "It's not sanitary to share brushes with anyone, ever. So I have extras, for just-in-case moments, like this one. Don't worry." Natalie smirked at Sinead's expression, but her own turned thoughtful. "I'm thinking light pink lips."

"Wait!" Sinead said, even putting up her hand in the 'stop' motion. "I wear makeup sometimes. But just mascara, usually. Could you not go... overboard with this?" Sinead shook her head. "And can I ask why we're even doing this at all?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Fine, I won't go 'overboard'." She said, imitating Sinead's American accent. "And we're doing this because it's FUN, and just so you know, you'll definitely be thanking me when I'm done."

Natalie set out to do Sinead's makeup. She thoughtfully chose purple eyeliner and black mascara. Though Sinead looked unsure of the purple eyeliner, Natalie assured her that it was going to be applied quite subtly, and that it was not 'overboard'. (Everyone ought to know that purple accents nearly any eye color well.) The mascara made Sinead's eyelashes stand out more- they were long, but a light red color, so the darker color over top made her eyes pop more. Natalie dusted on a hint of light pink on Sinead's cheeks, and tinted lip balm to her lips.

"Hey, what's with the dark circles?" Natalie asked as she was nearing the end of her transforming Sinead.

"I stayed up late last night talking to Amy," Sinead replied, sounding almost apologetic.

"Hm. Well, you can reduce the hideous sight of bags by using a light colored concealer under the eyes." Natalie responded, adding some. She stepped away for a moment, looking at her work. "Done," Natalie cheered.

She'd turned Sinead away from the mirror, but now was the moment of unveiling. Natalie could not resist grinning. She'd turned Sinead into one good-looking girl... All while being quite subtle. Natalie reveled in her own talent. Makeup was truly art if done right, and Natalie had certainly done it right. (As she always did.) She spun Sinead around to meet her reflection.

"Wow," Sinead breathed, surprised. She smiled. "I like it," she said. She glanced at Natalie, and giggled. "And you didn't go overboard!"

Natalie giggled, too. "Of course not."

Sinead smiled. "I like it a lot. Thanks, Natalie." Sinead stood up and brushed out her shirt, which Natalie eyed.

"Next time we'll have to do wardrobe." Natalie commented. "And what's with the long-sleeves?"

"I don't know about changing my wardrobe." Sinead said, laughing and not answering the long-sleeves question. "But I do like the way you did my makeup. Thanks, Natalie." She hesitated, then said, "You're alright." Sinead gave a final wave and left the room, grabbing her bag off of her bed.

Natalie rolled her eyes, even though Sinead was already gone. "I'm better than just 'alright'," She muttered, but she knew that Sinead had liked it, and that made her smile in satisfaction.

Natalie went downstairs and crossed the lawn to Grace's house, intending to see if Dan was awake yet.

**~Ian~**

Regrets.

They were so... Ugly. Even the word. It didn't roll well off the tongue. Regrets were feelings you got from something you wish you hadn't done. Who liked that? Feeling bad over something that had already happened?

Regrets.

"Ugh," Ian muttered, wrapped up in his own thoughts. Sighing, he got up, filled his electronic teapot with water, and headed back to his guest room.

Ian sat down by the window, waiting for the teapot to heat the water. It was definitely hot today, and an iced tea kind of day, but hot tea was more relaxing, so he really didn't care.

Plus, he was so wrapped up in his thoughts he probably couldn't have tied his shoes, let alone take the effort to actually make iced tea. It was easier to put hot water and a teabag into an electronic teapot and just push a button.

Ian thought about the night before.

It was like a nightmare, or something. It was exactly why telling Amy he liked her wouldn't make any sense, why it would never... Work out the way he'd like it to. Good lord, it wouldn't do anything except cause absolute chaos, wouldn't it? Amy would probably break a glass bottle over his head and then sic her demon cat on him. Or something worse.

And then he'd be back to square one, with everyone hating him. Or maybe he'd never left square one- maybe he was still there.

Maybe it was a karma thing. And Ian would have to deal with it for eternity or something. As payback, for Korea, and Ian's little tricks. But... He hadn't known then, right? He was just doing what everyone else was. He had just been trying to win the clue hunt. And yeah, that didn't make anything he'd done OKAY, but he wasn't the only one doing bad things...

No, he'd hurt Amy then, pretty much just for the sport of it.

"But I didn't KNOW then," Ian muttered to himself. "I didn't know that Amy was..." Ian sighed. Great, he thought. I've resorted to talking to myself.

Last night... It had been a living nightmare. First off, Ian hated himself more than he had in a while just for saying anything to Amy at all in the fashion that he had. He had no excuses- he'd decided he would never say a word. That he'd always quietly admire her and not ever tell her so, because, as said, it would cause too many problems and would never work out. Ian had decided he would have to find out a way to be okay with eternally feeling dissatisfied with his position in Amy's life- as a really distant relative that everyone just kind of tolerated.

The end. That would be it. But he'd ruined that, too. And now he was feeling all stupidly regretful, and- there was that word again. Ugh, he hated it.

Ian was just between a rock and a hard place, or whatever that expression was. Except it felt worse. Like, between a razor blade and a razor blade, or something- either way he was going to get cut. And it was going to hurt. There was no way to leave unscathed.

He'd done it once before. He'd made Amy fall for him. But he'd destroyed the chance, like, really badly.

Maybe... Maybe he should just say SORRY.

Ian considered this.

Sorry.

He certainly felt sorry, which was kind of gross- 'sorry' was right down there with regrets- but it was TRUE. What if he did say sorry? Find some majestic way to apologize, for everything, and get her to forgive him? Would that work? COULD she ever forgive him? He was kind of doubtful about that. Leaving someone in a cave to die... Well that's not exactly something that can be shaken off like, "Oh, it's cool, no problem."

The timer on the electronic teapot made a 'ding!' sound, and it startled Ian out of his thoughts for a moment. Ian poured his tea into a mug and blew some steam off the top.

Sorry... He considered it and sipped his tea.

Was it just him, or did the tea taste like gravy?

**~Hamilton~**

"Hey, guys. Great news- Blackberry's up for adoption!"

Excitement sparked in Hamilton's chest.

The day before, Chad, the worker at the pound, had said that Lincoln, AKA Blackberry, would probably be up for adoption late today at the earliest. Hamilton and Sinead had been planning on just swinging by to see the cat again, but now Chad said the cat was up for adoption? Hamilton wondered why, and then thought of his thoughts from the day before- that he was certain that Lincoln would be going home in Sinead's arms.

Sinead's eyes sparkled with excitement, and she looked at Hamilton happily before turning to look at Chad. "He is?" Sinead asked him excitedly.

"Yup!" Chad confirmed. "Hold on, let me get the little guy, and then I'll explain."

Chad walked into the backroom, where they kept the kennels for the animals.

"Hamilton!" Sinead said, her eyes shining. "Should I... Should I adopt Lincoln? Because I know it's a big responsibility and all, but I-"

Hamilton had never seen her so excited. He smiled. "You're definitely adopting him, Sinead. Besides, that cat loves you, and I don't have a doubt in my mind that you'll take good care of him. Er, GREAT care of him." Hamilton added hastily, his face turning slightly red.

Hamilton reminded himself of the day before, when Sinead had stepped away from him at the end of their little soccer match. She doesn't like you that way, he reminded himself. And while that stung a lot, it was nice to hang out with her, even if it was just as friends. If he couldn't have her as a girlfriend, friends was good enough. Right? Though that was getting harder.

Today Sinead had her hair down. Hamilton wondered if that was her being intentionally cruel. (Though that didn't sound like something Sinead would do, and he knew that.) He'd told her he liked her hair down on day 1 of this week...

Hamilton wondered if he was making too huge a deal out of nothing. Their collision on the makeshift field... What if that was all it was? Just a collision? Yeah! Hamilton thought. That was all that it had been. Just a collision. And because Sinead only thought of him as a friend, it hadn't been a big deal. And...

"Back." Chad said, carrying Lincoln. The black cat meowed in greeting.

"Hi!" Sinead said, more to the cat than to Chad.

"Alright, so, I bet you're wondering why Blackberry's up for adoption." Chad said, immediately handing the cat to Sinead. "The reason is... Well, we actually found the person who previously owned him- some man who lives across from the park. Apparently he had quite a few young cats on his property. He holed them up in bad conditions, and I won't get into much more detail than that, but this man's manor of getting rid of 'unlucky' black cats was to dump them into the pond at the park." Chad sighed and rubbed his temple. "The other cats are all being accounted for. There's no major injuries or anything, but the man was fined a lot. The cops busted him." He frowned. "We can safely assume that Blackberry was one of those cats."

"Wow," Hamilton remarked. "That's horrible. I'm glad the cops found him out." He said, frowning.

Sinead squeezed Lincoln protectively. "I'm glad too," She said, hugging the cat. A smile worked up on her face again. Sinead hesitated, then gave Hamilton a look of questioning. Hamilton felt what she was asking him with her eyes; Should I really adopt the cat?

Hamilton nodded encouragingly.

"Uhm, well, we'd like to adopt him, then." Sinead said, holding up the cat. And she grinned happily.

_A/N_

_So I'm just sitting here like:_

_Oh my enchiladas, look how many words this story has, and how many reviews! :O Thanks to everyone who ever reviewed, subscribed to the story, subscribed to me, favorited the story, or favorited me as an author. WOW. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH._

_1) Now, lately, I've been lurking a bit around this fandom looking for good reads. So, my question is, would you like me to read a story of yours? (If it's a one/two-shot I _**promise**_ to read it, if it's longer, it really depends on length but I'll try to check it out! :))_

_2) What do you think Ian will do to apologize to Amy, if he decides to at all?!_

_3) What was your overall favorite thing that has happened so far? :)_

_4) Corn dogs or enchiladas? (Enchiladas remind me of Grover... If you don't know what I mean than nevermind xD)_

_And watch out for my Amian two-shot- I think the first half will be up tomorrow, and my new AU fic might be up the following day ;)_

_~Lovely_


	19. Unraveled

_A/N_

_Hey everyone! I'm currently halfway through Trust No One, and my heart has already exploded in my chest._

_On a happier note, thanks to every single reader and reviewer. You help me through these deep dark time o_O_

_Disclaimer: "Jonah, drop me a beat for my disclaimer!" I say, and Jonah Wizard obliges with an eyeroll. As he beatboxes for me, I clear my throat, and say quite sadly, "I don't own the 39 Clues, my homies." Jonah looks a little too happy when I say that, and I shoot him a glare._

CHAPTER NINETEEN: Unraveled

**~Amy~**

Last night, Sinead had been surprisingly... unraveled.

Amy thought about the conversation the two had shared over a slightly late breakfast. Amy sat alone in the kitchen. (She hadn't seen Ian or heard from him, and for now, she was glad about that. Just thinking about what had happened the night before twisted her stomach up.)

Amy became immersed in the memory.

When Amy had come back from going to her favorite lookout point, she'd felt exhausted, both physically and mentally. And yet... While spilling all of her emotions to Sinead sounded really appealing, it had only taken a moment for Amy to see that her best friend needed her. Sinead looked more distraught than Amy had seen her in a long time.

Sinead must have been thinking the same things about Amy, though, because when she'd seen her, she asked anxiously, "Amy! What's wrong?" They were in the living room of the guesthouse. "Oh god- what happened to your wrist?"

Amy wasn't the best at lying, but she pasted a smile on her face. For Sinead.

"Oh, nothing is wrong. You just wanted to talk to me, right?" Amy grinned, hoping it looked real. "Just a long day, that's all." Her stomach had flipped, thinking about Ian, but she'd pushed hose thoughts away. There had obviously been something on Sinead's mind. "I think I should be asking YOU what's wrong." Amy commented, frowning for her worried-looking friend. "And my wrist, well, I just tripped. Me being clumsy, that's all."

Sinead hesitated, not completely buying Amy's it's-all-good act. "Wow! Sorry that had to happen to you. Does it hurt?" She paused, but Amy didn't say anything, except to shake her head no, so Sinead continued. "...Are you sure you're really okay, though? Because today, I started to feel kind of bad. About you getting stuck with Ian, I mean. I know... I mean, I know what went on between you before, Amy. And I wanted to make sure you were okay." Sinead had frowned along with Amy. "Because I can set him straight for you if you need me to."

A bud of happiness bloomed inside of Amy, even though she hadn't been having the best of nights. It felt nice to see that Sinead cared so much about her even when she seemed to have some problem of her own. But Amy had waved her hands dismissively and conjured up a laugh. "I'm completely fine, Sinead, I promise. So far... Well, Ian's been pretty easy to get along with." She shrugged neutrally. "I mean, he's Ian."

Sinead let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear," She'd said.

Our present-Amy sighed at the thought. She and Sinead had then dropped the subject of Ian, because Sinead seemed reassured by Amy's lies about being okay.

"Have you seen Nellie, by any chance? Something weird is going on with her. Ian tried to get her to come to the hospital after I fell, but she sent back this weird text and now she won't answer her phone."

Sinead frowned. "No, I haven't."

There was another pause, and it was evident that Sinead didn't know anything.

"So what's up with you?" Amy had asked finally, sitting beside her best friend on the couch.

"Just, well... I... I don't really know how to say this." Sinead had said, looking sad and confused at once. "But... I think I like Hamilton." That last part came out almost as a whisper, and Sinead's cheeks turned slightly red.

"Wow," Amy remarked, quite surprised. She hadn't been expecting that. Sinead and Hamilton? Amy had taken a moment to let that sink in.

Then the corners of her mouth had curved upwards in a quiet smile.

It was kind of really sweet. Really. Amy seen the way Hamilton looked at Sinead- everyone did. They weren't blind. (Well, except for Ted, but even he knew.) The surprise had come when Sinead had confessed to liking him back, but Hamilton WAS great guy... Sinead's problem seemed small to Amy- in fact, Amy didn't even see how it could be a problem at all. A slightly selfish, dull ache of longing had filled Amy. Why couldn't her love life be simple?

"Don't make fun of me!" Sinead said at Amy's smile. She turned redder. "I just..." Sinead sighed. She flopped back in her seat, closing her eyes. "We don't match, Amy. We don't go well together. We don't..." She struggled to find words. "I shouldn't like him."

Oh, so that was it. Maybe it wasn't as simple as it seemed. Any selfishness Amy had been feeling evaporated, and her smile grew slightly. She placed a comforting hand on Sinead's shoulder. "I won't make fun of you," Amy said, rolling her eyes. "And 'shouldn't'? Just because you two are a little different doesn't mean you can't like each other." Amy paused, thinking of the word 'shouldn't'. Shouldn't... Now, AMY could use that word. Not Sinead. Because Amy shouldn't like Ian.

She didn't.

"Aren't we TOO different, though?" Sinead asked, peeking open an eye. "I just... I don't know if it would work out. I feel like I'm trying to wire something dangerous, and I know a safe way to wire it, so I can do it that way. But I could also try a new, totally unpredictable way, too, if I wanted. And if I try the safe way, yeah, I'll be safe, but I'll never know what would have happened if... If I tried it the other way. The more... Dangerous way. I'll never know if it worked." Sinead tucked a curl of red hair behind her ear.

Amy had laughed softly at her friend's flustered attempt at an analogy in her worried state. It was a funny role-reversal- most of the time Sinead was giving Amy advice. Amy almost thought of her as an older sister as well as a best friend.

"Well, what you should do is obvious." Amy said.

"It is?" Sinead asked skeptically, straightening in her seat and raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. You should try wiring your 'something' the dangerous way. Because I have a feeling that it isn't nearly as dangerous as you think it is, and you're right- you'll never know until you try." Amy said, and finished with a grand smile. Sinead stared at her.

"Do you mean that, Amy? Do you think I should like... Tell him that I like him?" Sinead said. She winced.

"Not necessarily, Sinead. Just stop..." Amy hesitated, reading her friend's face. "Pushing him away."

"God," Sinead had said, startled. "How did you know that? Do you read minds?"

Amy's smile was a definitely 100% real one now, and she laughed. "No, but maybe expressions. And I'd like to think I know you well, best friend." Amy giggled.

Sinead smiled, too. "Thanks, Amy. I really needed that." She yawned. "I really need to go sleep now, or else I'll look like a nightmare tomorrow." She giggled, too, and gave Amy a nice hug. "Goodnight," she said, standing. "THANK YOU a billion times for helping me. Well..." Sinead had blushed slightly. "We'll see what happens later."

And that had been the end of that, Amy going to bed, too.

Amy stared out the kitchen window. She was really, really glad that she helped Sinead, and the talk had helped change her perspective on the Cahills again a little bit.

After being with Ian, Amy had felt like her mission as a Madrigal was un-achievable- but if beautiful, brilliant Ekaterina branch Sinead could fall for big, sometimes clumsy, sweet Hamilton, then maybe she WAS wrong. Maybe the Cahills really had changed. Maybe they'd all learned to overcome their differences and they could be real people, acting civilized to one another, rather than monsters. They could change, and they WERE changing. All of them.

Except for Ian Kabra.

**~Sinead~**

Adopting a cat wasn't very hard, actually.

It was kind of a sign this-and-that deal, and yeah, it was a bit of a chunk of money, but it wasn't too bad. And Lincoln had already had his shots, courtesy of Hamilton the day before.

Hamilton.

Sinead's pulse quickened. Technically he'd sent her to the shop part of the warehouse-like room to pick out a collar, a cat bed, a carrier, and whatever else she thought Lincoln would need, but she kept sneaking peeks at Hamilton. He was finishing up the last of the paperwork, a concentrated look on his face.

The conversation she'd had late last night with Amy popped into her head. She'd basically told Amy she wouldn't push Hamilton away anymore- and so far, she wasn't, but a lot of fears still weighed down her stomach. Sinead sighed. She picked a blue collar in the smallest size they had available, because Chad predicted that Lincoln wasn't going to get much bigger than he already was, and he was one tiny cat.

And then there was also earlier that morning, too. Natalie had given her a bit of a makeover. Sinead thought Hamilton had noticed, but she couldn't be sure.

Hamilton was acting differently than she was. In Sinead's mind, she could sort of start over a little bit, start off fresh. She attempted to wipe the whole soccer-field thing from her memory, and today, she was a cheery ball of sunshine.

But doubt flickered behind her seemingly confident smile. Hamilton was acting a little awkward, as if he'd like to go on being friends, too, but he didn't know how. Or maybe it was all in Sinead's head- she scolded herself mentally. Nothing had really happened out there on the field. Right? It wasn't as if they had... Kissed, or anything like that. Sinead DID sometimes over-exaggerate stuff in her mind. It was paranoia, a common side-effect of the Ekats, who never stopped thinking. Ever.

So maybe she was imaging that Hamilton knew she liked him, and that was why he was acting a bit strangely around her.

"Oh yeah, a carrier." Sinead muttered to herself, realizing she'd gotten lost in her thoughts. She chose one, and a nice kitty bed, too, along with some cat treats. She hurried over to Hamilton. "Done," She said. Hamilton looked at her and away from his papers. He smiled, and Sinead felt like her brain was going to explode from the combination of her own thoughts and Hamilton's smile.

"I'm done, too. I 'legally' changed is name to Lincoln." Hamilton said, the last part added with a slightly awkward, lopsided grin. Chad emerged from the backroom with Lincoln once more, tucked under and arm- they'd put him in his holding cage for a bit while they did paperwork- and clapped his hands lightly in excitement.

"You guys made my day." He exclaimed. "This guy is going to make an excellent pet... Though I suggest you house train him." Chad swapped with Hamilton, giving him the cat and Hamilton handing him the papers. Hamilton tried to give Sinead her cat, but she told him to pet the cat for a while. She'd kind of been a hogging him up, and he was kind of Hamilton's cat, too. Hamilton HAD saved him from the pond. And done the boring paperwork. "Let me just read over this quickly, and enter it into the computer. Then we can make the final transaction and you guys are free to take your new cat home." Chad said.

Sinead felt a grin working up on her face. She WAS feeling nervous about her situation with Hamilton, but looking at Lincoln, she couldn't help but smile.

"I didn't even tell Amy I was adopting a cat." Sinead said to Hamilton while Chad scanned the papers. "I forgot to. When I talked to her, I mean- Last night I did. You know, to check up on her about the whole Ian situation... I hope she's okay with Lincoln staying at the house with me."

"Oh, so you talked to Amy." Hamilton said. "I'm sure she'll be fine with Lincoln. She's cool like that." He paused, and then frowned. "What ever DID happen with her and Ian? I mean I've heard a lot of rumors and stuff..."

Sinead smirked. "None of your business, so I won' tell." She frowned. "But I really DID want to check up on her. You never know with Ian. I don't want her to get hurt." And I don't want to get hurt, either, Sinead thought silently, looking at Hamilton. The thought made her face burn and her insecurities come up again.

"Yeah," Hamilton mumbled, turning away from Sinead.

Sinead felt like stomping her foot on the ground. See? That! She thought. Turning away from me like that...

She wanted to know why he was acting that way. What had she done to rebuild the walls between them that they'd already torn down?

**~Dan~**

"So what do you want to do today?" The voice of Natalie rang out.

She was so arrogant. Why did she think she could just waltz right into Dan's room whenever he felt like it? And, oh, yeah, she had a bad habit of doing that WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING, too. Dan mumbled an incomprehensible reply into his pillow. Didn't Natalie understand that it was SUMMER, and summer meant sleeping in?! She really needed to learn the schedule of an American teenage boy.

"What was that?" Natalie said, referring to Dan's mumbling.

Dan sighed and pulled himself in a sitting position, the blankets tangled around him in a weird cocoon. He kicked some of them off. "Do I look like I want to do something right now?" Dan shot at her. "Let alone look like I'm READY to do something right now?"

Natalie frowned at Dan's severe case of bed-head hair, and the mess of sheets and blankets spilling onto the floor. "Not really," She replied, taking a moment to inspect her perfect nails.

Dan huffed. Natalie thought she owned the world now, huh? Maybe it was her victory over Will Goldmin. Or maybe Natalie was a space alien who could read minds and emotions, and she knew that Dan liked her, and she was trying to be annoying by waking him up, to get him off her back. With that ridiculous thought, Dan's heart flipped over in his chest. He glanced at Natalie's arm, but she didn't appear to be wearing that bracelet- the poisonous one that made you spill all your secrets. Dan shuddered, glad not to see it there.

"What do you even want?" Dan groaned. Natalie's frown deepened.

"Well... I assumed we'd do something together." She said. "You know, seeing as we're being forced to and all." Natalie smirked, but it kind of turned into a smile, which looked, well, pretty genuine. Dan's stomach was back to doing the side-effects-of-soda-and-pop-rocks thing.

Dan gritted his teeth. Upon Natalie's entrance to his room, Dan suddenly felt very annoyed with the whole setup of this week. If he hadn't been forced to spend so much time with the girl standing in his doorway, he never would have fallen for her. (And he was probably a little grumpy about being woken up, too, but whatever.)

"We don't HAVE to hang out together." Dan said crabbily. "I mean, who's even gonna tell on us? We can just stay out of sight- and AWAY from each other- and no one will ever know the difference. Besides, even if we got caught, we'll probably only have to deal with Amy." Dan frowned.

Natalie looked quite surprised at Dan's outburst. But her expression changed to anger and maybe a tiny bit of... Hurt? Natalie crossed her arms. "Fine." She hissed, her anger creeping into her voice. "Three days of 'Cobra' and you couldn't even bear to stand a fourth one. I see. Whatever, Dan. I can take a hint. Have a lovely day WITHOUT me."

Natalie was gone in an instant, slamming Dan's door shut.

Dan stared at his now-closed door for about a minute, his slow-to-wake-up brain basically trying to figure out what had just happened.

"What did I just do?" Dan muttered.

_A/N_

_I hope this chapter was up to par! It was kind of sad, wasn't it? :/_

_1) I command you to go read the first half of my two-shot! I mean... If you want to... Uhm... (That wasn't even a question... D:)_

_2) Jake or Evan? *anticipates explosions* and NO, you can't pick Ian this time! xD (I pick Evan out of those two o_O)_

_3) Would you rather be able to shapeshift into a unicorn or a dragon?_

_4) Cake or bacon? (Yeah, that's right, I went there.)_

_Please review, thanks everyone :)_

_~Lovely_


	20. Kiss?

_A/N_

_Wow, I can't even say how pleased I am that I've made it to 20 chapters._

_HAPPY 20TH!_

_I also am aiming to have this become my most reviewed story ever. We're about 70 reviews away from that happening. But let me tell you something, guys- even if we don't get there... 400 reviews is SO MANY. I can't thank you all enough. I didn't think I'd get so many :')_

_And sorry for the slight wait for this, too._

_RANDOM NOTE: If you see any misspells or anything don't hesitate to point them out. I actually appreciate it, so... xD_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues. Don't shoot me after you read this... xD_

CHAPTER TWENTY (!): Kiss?

**~Natalie~**

Inside of Natalie Kabra's mouth, two rows of perfect white teeth were gritted.

A sour expression on her lovely face, Natalie sat down on her guest bed heavily. The bed frame creaked, and Natalie let out a hiss of disgust. (Both at the poor quality of the bed AND at her next thought:)

BOYS.

Natalie didn't understand them. They were hardly worth the effort or the time, it seemed, and yet girls everywhere were falling for them. Boys were so... Stupid. The female mind was far superior- so why did Natalie, the most superior girl of all, have to LIKE one of them? A boy? Especially that boy being Dan Cahill?

Natalie flopped over. Her dark hair splayed around her pillow and she stared at the ceiling.

"We don't HAVE to hang out together." Natalie muttered quietly to herself, repeating what Dan had said. There were two parts of her, two reactions to what he'd said- the side of her that was agreeing, and the side of her that was a little bit... Well, wounded. More so than she'd like to admit, ever.

Natalie had just been learning to really get along with Dan. Why did he have to ruin it? Boys always ruined everything. It was just so unfair...

Natalie risked ruining her lip gloss and bit her lip, hard. She could feel tears starting to build behind her eyes, and she didn't like it. The pressure of her teeth against her bottom lip helped keep the tears at bay.

She couldn't believe Dan.

She'd really believed that they could... She didn't know, at least get along well. Right? Well, wrong, apparently, because Dan had spent three days with her and then decided that that was enough. Despite her best effort to evade crying, hot, angry tears began to spill down Natalie's cheeks. Dan had just seemed so... So insensitive. Maybe she could see him making a joke about something like that- okay, she could DEFINITELY see him joking about that- but he hadn't been joking at all, she thought. His voice had been hard and he'd been serious...

"This is absurd." Natalie whispered to herself. Dan wasn't worth actually crying over. Natalie sat up and brushed her tears away, wincing when she saw that it had slightly messed up her makeup. She grabbed a tissue off of the nightstand and cleaned herself up.

Natalie stood, smoothing out wrinkles from her outfit.

Natalie gave the mirror a smile that could have sold anything, and even though it was fake, it helped her feel better- Pretending was something she was good at. And she felt satisfied with the fact that she could pull off confidence even when she felt... A little less than confident.

What should I do, then? Natalie thought. Since I'm NOT spending the day with Dan... Natalie frowned slightly, but pushed that thought away. Nah. Who cared about Dan...

Outside the window, Natalie saw something moving across the lawn. She strode over to it, her keen eyes watching the moving shape; it was Amy Cahill. Natalie's eyes narrowed when she saw that Amy was alone. So, she thought. Amy isn't with her partner, either.

Amy's form moved along until she was under a tree outside of the Cahill house. She sat down, pulled a book out of her ugly bag, and began to read.

"That means Ian is on his own," Natalie murmured aloud, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow. She was suddenly inspired to visit her brother.

She was definitely infuriated at Ian and Amy for the smoothie thing, but that would all be worked out in due time... For now, a bit of curiosity made her leave the window. Natalie made her way across the room and slipped out the door, peeking one last time at the mirror to prove to herself that she'd wiped off all the makeup smudges left from her short moment of weakness.

With every step Natalie took away from her room, she pushed any thoughts of Dan further away.

Ian was in his room, and Natalie didn't bother to knock.

She slid right into the room, and assumed a position similar to the one she'd adopted visiting Dan earlier. She leaned against the door frame and smirked, not surprised to see Ian staring out the window. The rooms Natalie and Ian were staying in faced the same direction- meaning that Amy Cahill, under the tree out front, would be perfectly visible from Ian's window, too.

"Hello, dear brother." Natalie said.

Ian didn't start; it was kind of hard to sneak up on him. But Natalie wasn't disappointed- his annoyed expression made up for him not jumping when she'd sneaked into the room.

"What do you want, Natalie?" Ian muttered.

Natalie shrugged, and said honestly, "Dan doesn't want anything to do with me." She scowled. After the way he'd treated her... "And I can't say I want anything to do with him, either. So I thought I'd drop by and see how things are going between you and Amy."

"Why do you care?"

Natalie unsuccessfully tried to hold back a laugh. She knew Ian like the back of her hand. Even if other people couldn't tell what Ian was thinking, SHE could- and that, to Natalie, meant that she'd pretty much seen Ian fall in love with Amy before he even had.

"Come on, Ian. Don't be like that. I know you fancy her." Natalie's eyes narrowed and she wondered why they weren't together. "What did you do this time, Ian? I recall you two not so long ago popping smoothie in my face together quite merrily. But now it appears you've been replaced by a book."

Ian scowled deeper. "Stop it, Natalie. I don't know what you want from me- I don't even like Amy."

Ian was so absurd. He was OBVIOUSLY in love with Amy... And even though that was kind of gross, (because Amy had the fashion sense of a homeless person,) it was kind of sweet, too. If you looked at it the right way.

Natalie didn't mean to, but she thought of Dan and she felt a pang in her stomach. Sure, Ian was in denial. But Natalie had seen firsthand hundreds of girls drooling over Ian. If Ian chose someone like Plain Jane Amy, (and he HAS, Natalie thought,) and was head over heels for her... What did someone like NATALIE have to do to get Dan's attention? (And POSITIVE attention, at that...)

Natalie was used to being on top and in charge, getting whatever she wanted. Sure, things were a bit tougher after the clue hunt. But she was holding out fine.

Never mind, Natalie thought darkly, spacing out for a moment and nearly forgetting that Ian was in the room with her. I don't NEED Dan at all!

**~Ian~**

Ian eyed Natalie suspiciously.

Why does she have to come in here and bother me? Ian thought. She's right, I messed things up. So why can't she leave me alone to try to find a solution?

Ian sighed. There WAS no solution to the problem with Amy, it seemed. Except for... Apologizing to her. Ugh. Ian still wasn't sure if he could. And how DID one apologize? Was it supposed to be a a tiny, humble act, or a big, over-the-top deal?

"Natalie, you should leave." Ian said pointedly, annoyed that his sister could read him so well. He frowned when she didn't, searching his sisters amber eyes with his own. Yes, she could read him well. But he often knew what she was thinking, too... "You're not really here to annoy me." Ian guessed. "You've got a problem of some sort and you're running from it. What is it?"

Natalie scowled, obviously not pleased to have the tables turned by Ian. "Nothing," she snapped, her harsh tone accompanied by a stare.

"Hah!" Ian yelled, standing up from his seat by the window. "I knew something was wrong! It's YOUR partner, isn't it? It's Dan!" Ian grinned triumphantly as Natalie's glare hardened murderously.

"So what?" Natalie snapped irritably. Ian's eyes widened.

"Oh no." Ian said, a mixture of horror and delight forming inside of him. "Don't tell me you like him? Hah! And he's gone and messed it up, hasn't he?" Ian taunted. He WAS surprised that Natalie would like the completely absurd Dan Cahill, but it was kind of amusing. Natalie scooped a pillow off of the floor and threw it at Ian. He dodged it easily, still smirking.

"No," Natalie shouted at her brother, enraged. When she answered the second question, however, her voice were more sulky. "...And yes."

Ian snickered. "This is great!"

"It is NOT." Natalie seethed.

Ian grinned. He was glad now that Natalie had come into his room- the possibilities of what he could do with this knowledge was looking endless, and the Amy issue was on the back of his mind. "I could tell everyone you like Dan... Would that solve any of your problems?" Ian suggested innocently.

"I don't like him! And if you dare try..." Natalie drew herself up to her full height, staring daggers at Ian, which he scoffed off. She started a new sentence. "You can't blackmail me, Ian." Natalie's eyes glinted evilly. "If you go about spreading rumors that I like Dan, I'll just have to let it slip that you like Amy- and the difference there is that no one will believe you, and everyone would believe me!"

"They WOULD believe me," Ian said, staring her down. "I hardly doubt they'd listen to you."

Two Lucian siblings threatening to blackmail each other.

"They would!"

"Would NOT!"

"Would!"

Ian grimaced as immaturity surfaced in the room. Sometimes that happened when he was squabbling with Natalie. "Fine," Ian said through gritted teeth, his joyousness at having guessed Natalie's secret (not matter how much she denied it) all worn away. "We can't blackmail each other. So... We say nothing at all. Deal?"

Natalie pouted. "Fine. Because I will NOT have you spreading rumors about me."

Ian's grin slowly grew back. "Right, Natalie. Rumors."

She threw another pillow at him.

**~Hamilton~**

He had a CAT.

Well, technically, Hamilton had joint ownership of one. But whatever, no need to be all technical. It was exciting- the only pet he'd ever had was Arnold, the Holt family pit bull. Hamilton was ready to take care of the cat, though. And he was sure Sinead would make it easy, anyway, because she'd probably WANT to do all that stuff like giving the cat it's food and scooping the litter box or whatever.

And they hadn't said anything about who the cat would be going home with when the week was over, but Hamilton naturally assumed that Sinead would take Lincoln. She was the 'mom' anyway.

Hamilton grinned. Did that mean he was the dad?

"Hey look- there's Amy!" Sinead said. "I'll go... Ask her if it's okay to have the cat inside." She blushed slightly. "I didn't really ask her yet, so..." Sinead walked off a short distance, shutting the car door behind her.

After the last bits of the adoption process, Hamilton and Sinead had taken Lincoln back to the Cahill house so that he could get used to his temporary home. Hamilton watched Sinead sprint across the driveway and the grass to Amy, who was sitting under a tree in the yard.

Hamilton took Lincoln out of his cat carrier, and he gave a happy meow.

"I bet you don't like being in the car." Hamilton murmured to the black kitty. "Well, we're home now." Lincoln was so... Small. Hamilton felt like he would accidentally break him if he held him too tight. Nah, Ham thought. That won't happen... "I promise," he said aloud, stroking Lincoln's soft black fur. Outside, Sinead came running back to the car.

"Amy said it's okay," Sinead said. "And she wants to see Lincoln."

"Right-o." Hamilton responded. He climbed out of the car, still carefully holding the cat. "Uhm, here, you take him over. I'll get the cat food and stuff and I'll bring it in the guest house." Hamilton passed the cat to Sinead. Sparks tingled on the tips of his fingers when they brushed against Sinead's. "You got him?" Hamilton asked, his heart flipping in his chest.

"Yeah." Sinead said, her closeness making him feel huge and awkward. She stepped away, kind of like she had when they were playing soccer... No, that's stupid, Hamilton thought, scolding himself. She was just taking the cat over to Amy, like he'd told her to.

With a long sigh, Hamilton piled up all the stuff Sinead had bought and took it inside.

Hamilton slumped down on the couch, waiting for Sinead. Two minutes at least ticked off the clock as Hamilton waited.

"Amy said Saladin probably won't mind if Lincoln roams the ground a bit." Sinead entered the room, carefully maneuvering the door closed while holding her cat. Hamilton sat up when he saw her. She carefully put the cat down on the floor so that he could snoop around a bit and get the scent of the house. Sinead attempted to shake cat hairs off of her fingers, laughing. She was so pretty when she laughed- and she had her hair down, framing her face.

She's so unsuspecting, Hamilton thought. She really doesn't get it- she doesn't know how cool she is. Just everything about her. When she laughs, she makes everyone else want to laugh, too. She makes it so hard not to... Hamilton gulped. Not to what? TELL her? That he liked her? Because that really wasn't sounding like a good plan.

Sinead flopped over onto the couch. She was close to Hamilton, but her eyes followed Lincoln, who was sniffing a potted plant and looking at it suspiciously. Hamilton's eyes, however, were glued to Sinead. He felt a ridiculous twinge of jealousy towards Lincoln, who had more attention from Sinead now than Hamilton ever would.

But one usually notices when someone else is staring at them.

Slowly Sinead's gaze moved from the cat and towards Hamilton's.

"Your hair... It looks great down." Hamilton said, the words practically just falling out of his mouth. His eyes widened when he realized what he was doing. "I mean- I think I already told you that- uh- not that it doesn't look good in a ponytail- it does, really, I mean it. I-" Hamilton stammered, become increasingly flustered from being so near to Sinead. Hamilton didn't really attempt to finish whatever it was he was trying to say, he just kind of sat there, mouth slightly open.

Sinead blinked slowly, but she didn't pull away. Hamilton felt like time was passing in slow motion. Icy hands of fear gripped his heart; he was afraid that she'd start laughing at him and his attempt to compliment her. She wasn't laughing yet, but he couldn't read the expression on her face at all. Hamilton was back to thinking that he'd never had any experience with girls.

Like, ever.

Despite his nerves, without exactly meaning too, Hamilton began to lean forward. It was like a magnet, pulling him that way, towards her... Being so close, it was easy to get lost in her eyes, which showed intricate thoughts locked up so he couldn't decode them. They were close, they were closer...

I'm about to KISS her, Hamilton realized, shocked.

_A/N_

_I FINISHED TRUST NO ONE._

_Do you... Have you read it? I can't breath anymore. I... I... PM me if you would like to cry with me. I'm serious. IT BURNSSSSSSSSS_

_I BET YOU'RE MAD AT ME- HAHA SORRY BOUT THAT CLIFF HANGER. XD_

_1) I was so close to crying at the end of TNO... Has a book ever made you cry? :/ (If so, which one?!)_

_2) Do you think Hamilton's gonna get his kiss... Or is something going to interrupt it? (I have a feeling I will be hunted down and shot if it does...)_

_3) Jello or pudding?_

_4) What is the best smell ever? (I happen to think ONE of them is the vanilla mint candle sitting next to me... It smells SO good... Or pretty much just mint... xD)_

_:) Thanks for reading, please review!_

_~Lovely_


	21. Embarrassment and Apologies

_A/N_

_Hey everyone!_

_LISTEN TO MEH- (xD) Please try not to get all worked up over the couples and stuff. Okay? Because for one thing, I have three story lines going on- as you know by now, some chapters will naturally have more to some of the story lines and less to others. This IS the way I'm writing it.  
__I'm not trying to spotlight one pairing or anything, so don't worry about it. Also, I hope you realize just because one couple gets together ("If they do," I mutter mysteriously) doesn't mean another won't. You'll just have to wait and see... So basically, don't sweat it. :)_

_PS_

_YOU ALL HAVE NO FAITH IN ME?! OR MOST OF YOU?! xD (Most of you said I wouldn't make them kiss :P xD)_

_Disclaimer: *singing to tune of 'We are Never Ever Getting Back Together' or whatever it's called, by Taylor Swift: "I- Am Never- Ever- Ever Going to own this series- I- Am- Never- Ever- Ever going to own this series! (Yeah I don't own the 39 Clues... Sorry...) _

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Embarrassment and Apologies

**~Sinead~**

Kissing.

It wasn't... Well it wasn't like it was in those romance movies Sinead loved. In those movies, the kisses were spontaneous and passionate and took place in exotic, scenic geographical locations, like by the seashore or on an island or at the very least in a summertime flower garden. In the movies, the wind would be tugged at the pretty girl's hair, and the handsome boy would sweep her off her feet- literally- as they embraced in a kiss of true love.

Sinead Starling was sitting on a couch in a living room with a cat staring at her, and Hamilton Holt kinda smelled like the sandwich wrap he'd had for lunch on the way back to the Cahill's house.

In short, it wasn't like the movies.

...But somehow, it was better.

It wasn't exactly cold in the living room, but Hamilton was nicely warm. Sinead could feel his body heat beside her. Her thoughts became more unclear the nearer he got; then her thoughts were just completely incoherent. Hamilton's hand reached up and brushed hair a lock of red hair out of her face, the very reason that she always had it held back with an elastic. (Maybe if she'd known that Hamilton would brush it out of her face like that she would have left it down a lot more.)

It definitely felt like a lifetime before their lips actually touched. But it was definitely worth the wait.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Sinead took a note. First kiss: Hamilton Holt.

Tingles spread through Sinead. She'd never really wondered what kissing would feel like, but she hadn't been expecting this, either. It felt so... Nice. It wasn't all passionate like in the movies- but it was better. It was more relaxed. A warm feeling accompanied the tingles spreading through Sinead, and all of the sudden, she felt more happy and carefree than she had in a while.

It wasn't really a long kiss, and they both broke away at the same moment.

Sinead wasn't much of a blusher, but this time, she couldn't help it. She hated blushing- if anything or anyone ever managed to make her embarrassed enough to blush, her face turned the same color as her hair. (It wasn't cute, pink blushing like Amy did all the time. Instead Sinead probably looked like a super-angry tomato. Not that she was mad right now- probably exactly the opposite.)

Sinead looked everywhere but at the person she'd previously been kissing.

"Woah," Sinead heard Hamilton mutter. If it was possible to turn any redder than she already was, she did. What did 'woah' mean? She forced a glance in his direction, and was relieved to see that he had turned red, too. Except it was kind of cute on him.

Wait, Sinead thought anxiously. What if he's blushing because he's embarrassed that we kissed? Maybe he didn't want to? Or maybe I was bad at it or something? What if he's kissed other girls before and he actually knew what he was doing?!

The peaceful feeling she'd felt before evaporated, and now she felt anxiety creeping up on her.

What was she supposed to do now? Say, "Thanks for the kiss!" and leave? Was she supposed to slap him, like on the soap operas? Really, her favorite romance movies had not prepared her for this. The kiss was usually the last moment in the movie, where the lovers FINALLY get together, and as they kiss the camera zooms out and the screen fades to black...

Was she supposed to kiss him again? Yes, she probably would enjoy that, but she was seriously confused. Did Hamilton even like her? And had SHE kissed him first, or the other way around? How did other people not die of mortification from their first kiss?!

Sinead hoped for the best. Play cool, she thought nervously. She smiled as non-awkwardly as she could at Hamilton, but he wasn't looking at her. Oh my gosh, I messed something up! Sinead thought, internally starting to freak out. "Hamilton?" She said, finding her voice and making the first move to initiate conversation, since he wouldn't.

"Uh..." Hamilton's eyes flickered over her's for a microsecond, then he looked away. He stood up abruptly, still red in the face. "I should go." Hamilton said quietly. Then he started to walk away quickly, tripping on the carpet.

Sinead stared desperately at his retreating form. I should call him back, she thought, get him to tell me what the heck just happened. But she couldn't get her mouth to form the words.

He was gone.

Sinead sank down into the couch. She picked a pillow up and buried her face into it, feeling the threat of tears pricking behind her eyes. What did I even do? She thought. I guess I'm a terrible kisser of something. Sinead winced. In her quiet embarrassment, she couldn't go after him. Not now that she'd messed everything up.

The longer she sat in the living room alone, the more she wished she was with Hamilton.

Maybe even kissing him.

**~Amy~**

Amy had read this book before.

And she was just getting to the part that made her heart race. It was one of the huge, pivotal moments in the plot.

Amy usually read books about educational things- she absolutely loved them. Learning was amazing, and there wasn't quite a feeling like how good it felt to learn something new. But Amy did have a few select story books that she loved, too. Amy loved finding authors with beautiful, eloquent writing. Today was a lovely day to read outside, under the shade of the big tree. Which, by the way, still had her scarf stuck in it from one of Ian's many escape attempts.

Amy's eyes widened as she read, completely enraptured by the writing. This was the important part of the story. The boy character was just about to-

"Hello, Amy."

The illusion and magic of the book were gone in an instant, destroyed by interruption. Amy hesitated, then looked up at Ian Kabra.

"Hi," She said warily. Amy hadn't really figured out what to think of him. In fact, she was trying to do as little thinking of him as possible, part of the reason she was outside reading. Trying to distract herself. But Amy saw now that that really wouldn't work- Ian was still there. He still existed. And by pushing away thoughts of him, she'd only been making herself unprepared for the next time he came around. And why WAS he there, anyway? Couldn't he just leave her alone? "What do you want, Ian?"

Ian shrugged. "We're supposed to be together for a whole week. Your orders, if I can remember correctly..." He paused. "What are you reading?"

Amy scowled slightly at his arrogance, reminding her that yes, this week had technically been her fault. "Yeah, well, special case." Amy mumbled, shoving her book into her bag and ignoring his question. She stood up and brushed off her pants. She turned away from him and began to walk away, her heart pounding like crazy. (And this time, not from fictional characters- from the very-real Ian Kabra.)

"Amy, wait." Ian said. Amy froze and dared to turn around and look at him, albeit she did so slowly, pulse still racing.

"What?" She said, not liking the way her stomach felt when she looked at him. Like... butterflies. Amy squeezed her eyes shut for a moment; that was the very last thing she needed. To fall for Ian again, like... Like in Korea.

"I did have a specific reason for coming out here to see you. And that purpose was not to mock you for having ordered everyone- including yourself- to be stuck with another Cahill for the rest of the week." Ian stepped a little closer. "I did have another purpose."

"Then what's you're 'purpose'?" Amy asked him, her hands clutching the straps of her bag tightly, trying to keep it together. Amy wasn't expecting the words that came out of Ian's mouth next.

"To tell you that I'm sorry."

**~Dan~**

He was going to have to apologize.

He'd taken a shower and eaten a microwavable burrito (Alistair's brand, of course) for good luck and he'd even combed his hair; and he was wearing the best t-shirt he owned. He was ready, but he... Didn't want to do it.

"UGH!" Dan yelled out loud, alone in the Cahill house kitchen with only a burrito wrapper to keep him company.

He felt BAD about what he'd said to Natalie. Really. That flash of hurt he'd seen in her eyes... He'd convinced himself that he'd imagined that part, but thinking of it still made Dan feel ashamed. He shouldn't have said what had. Natalie had just been getting along with him, too. And by showing up Will Goldmin she'd been HELPING him, not just trying to break some guy's heart. She'd done it to get rid of Will because Dan didn't like him.

Upon realizing that he needed to apologize, he done all that stuff mentioned- yes, he HAD even gone to through the trouble of combing his hair. He'd convinced himself he was doing it for Natalie, so that he looked like a presentable human being. But the selfish part of Dan also knew he was doing all that stuff- trying to look nice- because it was time consuming. And the longer he did that, the farther away apologizing would be.

But now there was nothing else to do. Dan needed to go say sorry.

"Text message," Dan said aloud. "Am I allowed to say sorry through a text message?" Dan's burrito wrapper didn't answer him, but he knew the answer anyway. A text message would not be acceptable. He had to do it in person.

Sighing, Dan dragged himself up and went to find Natalie.

He entered the guest house and passed Sinead. Dan gave her a wave, and bounded up the steps in pursuit of Natalie.

He was standing in front of her door.

Maybe I should just barge right in, Dan thought sarcastically. No, he thought to himself. Stop it, you're going to accidentally mess everything up again. A bit of fear bubbled in Dan's stomach. What if by being so rude, he'd completely erased all his progress with Natalie? He'd truly been starting to like her as she slowly opened up, showing who she really was rather than what people thought she was. She'd been becoming Nat, what Dan called her when she wasn't just acting...

Dan slowly raised a fist and knocked on the door.

"What do you want? Who's there?"

Dan heard. He held his breath, not daring to speak, because he heard her coming to the door anyway and he was scared that if he said "It's Dan" she might not open the door at all.

Natalie opened the door.

"Hi." Dan said. Natalie scowled at him, her brilliant eyes glinting in distrust.

"What do you want? I recall you saying you'd rather be alone for the rest of the week." Natalie hissed. Okay, NOW she shut the door, striding away back into the room. Dan winced, and opened the door.

"Look, Natalie. When I said that I was just kinda mad that you woke me up." Dan started. He wrinkled his nose- he was detecting a bitter, acid-y smell; Natalie was painting her nails.

"I don't care, Dan. Just go away." Natalie said, and edge in her voice. And she really did look like she didn't care- there was hardly any emotion displayed on her face, except maybe some annoyance. Dan swallowed hard. Yup, he thought, I've definitely messed everything up... Dan stepped a few feet closer to her, trying to collect his thoughts. He took a deep breath and started again.

"I mean it. I didn't even know what I was saying, I was just tired. I didn't mean that at all- I like spending time with you." Dan winced. Sure it was true- but it was really hard to say out loud. "So can we hang out now?"

Natalie looked up skeptically from her nails, which she was painting a shade of lavender. She watched Dan closely for a moment with her amber eyes, making him feel uncomfortable. Dan choked a little on the smell of the nail polish. "...Fine." Natalie hissed, and Dan let out a breath of relief. "But don't mess up again, Dan. I WON'T come back."

"Uhm- okay." Dan said, uneasy but glad she'd at least partly forgiven him. "So... We've missed some time. What do you wanna do to make it all up?" Dan asked, smiling weakly.

Natalie's eyes narrowed. "FIRST I'd like to finish painting my nails." She said icily. She waited a full three seconds before making a shooing motion with her hands, indicating that she wanted him to leave.

"Oh- alright. I'll just wait for you downstairs, then."

Natalie said nothing, intent on her nails. Dan left, sneaking one last peek at Natalie.

She looked nice today.

_A/N_

_How are yall doing? GREAT, I hope!_

_1) Did you like this chapter? xD_

_2) Chinese takeout or Mexican? (Lol... I'm having Chinese food for dinner tonight xD)_

_3) Do you sleep with stuffed animals? (I do :) And cats, my cats sleep at the end of my bed... xD)_

_4) Do you like sour things or sweet things better?_

_Have an excellent day, I love you all :)_

_~Lovely_


	22. Ian, the Black Hole

_A/N_

_Me re-reading the last two chapters: "Am I... The DEVIL?"_

_XD XD Jk jk lolol._

_-I'd like to quickly apologize for the chapters shortening in length a bit lately; there's a bunch of stuff going on for me right now. Sorry bout that, been busy, and I hope that they were just short- not short on quality :/ I hope this makes up for some of it, because this chapter is LONG!_

_Disclaimer: Whether I am the devil or not, *awkward cough* I do not own the 39 Clues._

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Ian, the Black Hole

**~Natalie~**

It was kind of hard to give Dan the cold shoulder.

He was relentlessly bouncy and energetic, with a smile to match. He seemed to be in good spirits, mostly, since Natalie had forgiven him so quickly. Except, that was the thing. She was trying NOT to forgive him just yet, exactly; she didn't want to seem weak. She wanted to show him that he shouldn't make mistakes like the one he had, because she'd never be easy to win over again. And she wanted to believe that she felt that way, because, honestly, it had hurt when he'd suggested they SAY they spent time with each other without actually doing it.

But he was so... Cute.

As the day dragged longer, Natalie's resistance was fatally failing. And as upsetting as that was, she didn't see how she could fix it.

At least, she figured, she and Dan would have a break from whatever other dirty 'revenge' Amy and Ian were planning- there seemed to have been some flaw in their getting-along too, or at least, Natalie guessed so because her brother had been watching Amy from the window rather then actually spending time with her.

She'd taken her time perfecting her nails, and when she went to find Dan, he'd made pancakes.

Now, normally, you'd think there were a few things wrong with the scene that Natalie had found in the downstairs kitchen;

1) Since when did Dan cook ANYTHING? 2) Why on earth was he wearing a pink apron? 3) ...Did someone pay him a lot of money to wear said apron? 4) Why did Dan have flour on his face, arms, and also apron? 5) Why on earth was there ACTUAL PANCAKES ON THE CEILING? 6) And, y'know, the rest of the kitchen was just general chaos.

But Natalie was a little bit distracted from that mentioned chaos; because Dan Cahill looked ridiculously attractive at the moment, with the flour all over him and that nice crooked troublemaker smile of his and his vibrant green eyes.

"You took so long with your nails that I decided to make breakfast," Dan said, cheerily.

Natalie ripped her eyes off of his smile and looked as disdainful as she could while eyeing his apron. She stabbed a finger towards it. "Dan... It's well past lunch time. You can't be making breakfast. And- in the name of Gucci what ARE you wearing?!" She couldn't help it; she burst out laughing, her attempts at distain destroyed Dan frowned, and then seemed to realize that he WAS wearing a pink apron. He scowled, hastily untying it. "No, don't take it off!" Natalie said, choking on her words through her laughter. "Pink is your color, remember?"

Dan hesitated, but he smiled. "Fine, whatever." He rolled his eyes. "Look, do you want some pancakes or not?"

Natalie finished her cackling and resumed as much poise as she could. She cleared her throat. "I suppose I have to have one, now." She couldn't help but let a little giggle escape her lips. "Dan, since when do you cook?"

Dan considered this. "Since never," He said with a shrug. "I'm thinking this was a one-time thing, y'know?"

Dan was so random. He was waiting for her and just decided to try doing something he'd never done before... He must get a thrill out of trying new things, Natalie figured. She wasn't really like that about most things.

"And the apron was for...?" Natalie asked as Dan splatted a pancake onto a plate and handed it to her.

"Well I wasn't going to get flour all over my clothes," He muttered, slightly grumpy from her laughter. But Natalie could tell he wasn't really very mad. Natalie looked down at her pancake; it looked a little burnt on the one side, maybe, but otherwise it didn't look so bad. She poured syrup all over it and cut a sliver of it with her fork and tasted it.

Dan was staring at her.

"What?" Natalie said with an exasperated sigh.

"Well, I wanna know, is it good?"

"...It's okay."

"5 stars?"

"1 star."

Dan grinned. "I think you should give it 2 stars, at least. And hey- you use syrup on your pancakes?" He peered down at Natalie's plate and her pancake, which, yes, was kind of drowning in the syrup. Natalie sniffed.

"Usually only when no one else is looking. But your pancakes are kind of dry, so I had to."

"Sure." Dan said. He took a seat at the counter- the kitchens in the Grace's mansion and the guest house were similarly modeled, both well stocked with foods for this week and both with counters- and got to work on his pancake. Beneath the counter their knees brushed every so often, and as Natalie ate her pancake, she marveled at how weak her resolve had become if the slightest brush of contact with Dan sent shivers down her spine.

She was so far gone that she couldn't even deny it anymore.

**~Hamilton~**

He kissed her. Sinead.

He'd kissed her.

They had KISSED.

This was actually extremely crushing to Hamilton Holt where he sat alone in his dad's car.

He'd kind of run away, but this was a good thing, he figured. For them both. He'd left, and he just kind of wanted to be alone- so he went to his dad's car and sat there for a while, thinking, in the drivers seat of the unmoving car.

Hamilton felt so bad. It couldn't possibly have been alright to kiss her. He felt like he shouldn't have- he felt that he should have asked permission first, or... Or just never have kissed her at all. Ever. What if he'd just ruined their friendship completely? He was mad at himself; he realized his hands were gripping the steering wheel in front of him so tightly that it would break if he put any more strain on it. With some effort, he let go.

He winced, imagining what Sinead's face must have looked like after the kiss. And yes, he imagined it, because he hadn't been able to look at her after making such a fatal mistake. It was a little bit maddening to Hamilton that he was the kind of guy who could easily run 10 miles without breaking a sweat, but basically at even the thought of the girl he liked, he turned into a coward.

Hamilton tried to relax. He pushed the seat down as far as it could go, and sat back with it, so that he was lying down. He stared at the gray ceiling of the car and sighed.

Sinead didn't LIKE him like that. He'd had all the signs- like whenever she pulled away. Like on the makeshift soccer field- hadn't that been clear enough? And yet he must have been insistently stupid, because he'd gone and kissed her anyway. Hamilton felt like punching himself in the gut.

But kissing her... Gosh, kissing her.

Hamilton was at war with himself. Because even though he was quite angry at his own mistake, he also felt selfishly happy. Like he could check it off of a list of accomplishments. Sinead Starling, the selfish part of him thought giddily, was my first kiss.

If he'd been the kind of guy who did that sort of thing, he might have gone and told all his guy friends about it, like, "You know that hot girl Sinead? I kissed her." But he wasn't that kind of guy at all. And every ounce of happiness he'd gotten from the kiss seemed to be crushed by the fact that the feelings weren't mutual.

There was no way she'd felt the way he had. Sort of weak in the knees- a new sensation for the Holt- and sort of obliviously happy and kind of smiling into the kiss. There was no way she'd felt the sparks that he had, no way her heart had started racing in her chest the way his had. Hamilton frowned. Of course all of those feelings had lasted only a moment, because as soon as he realized what an idiot he was being, destroying all the effort he'd gone to to build any kind of relationship with her at all- just friendship, of course- he'd pulled away.

"I have to apologize." He said aloud.

If there was one thing he'd figured out from sitting here doing his best to think, he'd realized that he really, REALLY didn't want to lose her. If she'd just be his friend... He'd be okay. He'd find a way to be alright with just being her friend. Maybe he could just kind of carefully and secretly oversee the kinds of guys she dated, just to... Make sure they deserved her. If such a guy existed at all.

"I have to go say sorry," Hamilton mumbled to himself. But he couldn't get himself to do it.

Mindlessly he pulled out his cellphone and scrolled through his contacts. A name jumped out at him, and before he even knew what he was doing, he pressed the call button.

The phone rang a few times, and then the slightly confused voice of Amy Cahill answered the phone. "Hello?" She said.

Hamilton had become great friends with Dan after the clue hunt, which meant he hung around the Cahills kind of a lot. Hamilton liked Amy a lot, but almost in a sisterly way whenever he was around her. Ham had more than once felt like he needed to protect Amy and Dan, too, as if they were his responsibility. But it was certainly unusual for him to call Amy; he only had her number for emergencies. If he ever needed to contact the Cahills he always called Dan first, seeing as they were buddies, and all.

"Hi." Hamilton said, feeling stupid again. But he kind of knew why he'd pressed the call button. Because... He knew Amy would listen and understand. And, he thought, his heart flipping, she's Sinead's best friend. "Do you... Uh, have a minute to talk?"

From the other end, it sounded like Amy was walking. She stopped and didn't say anything for a moment. "Okay," she said, coming back on. "Sure, I can talk. What's up?" She still sounded puzzled.

"Well..." Hamilton said. He was going to ask for advice on the best way to apologize to Sinead, but instead, he blurted, "Amy, how do you know if you're in love?"

Hamilton felt sick to his stomach. Where the heck had that come from?

Amy was quiet for almost an entire minute before answering the spontaneous question. When she spoke, it was thoughtfully. "I think... Well... I don't really know, Hamilton. I've never been in love before." Amy said, sounding a little embarrassed. Hamilton winced, cursing his outburst, but Amy actually continued. "But I think... From what I've heard... You'd know you were really in love with someone when you find yourself wanting what's best for them, even though it might not be what's best for you."

Hamilton's heartbeat pounded in his ears. "What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"I mean that I think love is... Caring about someone enough to let them go, sometimes." Amy said, and she paused thoughtfully. "It's like... If you truly love someone, you'll let them go."

But why was she talking about LETTING GO?

"What if you do let them go? Because they don't love you back? What are you supposed to do?"

"Firstly, how do you KNOW they don't love you back?" Amy asked, and Hamilton felt chills because she somehow was sounding very all-knowing. "They might. You'll have to figure that out yourself. But... Assuming you do let the person know the way you feel, and you end up having to let them go... It would hurt a lot, I think. But I imagine you'd feel good inside anyway, because you care about them so much, and even though you love them, they want something else, and you set them free to find that. What it is that they want, I mean."

Hamilton and Amy were both quiet.

Because you care about them so much.

Hamilton felt like his mouth was made of sandpaper. "...Thanks, Amy." He said, finally. "For answering my questions."

On the other end of the line, Amy laughed softly, and Hamilton felt a gentle smile in her voice. He was relived she hadn't laughed at him. Her laugh now was more of a reassuring one. "No problem, Hamilton." Amy paused again. "I have to go. But if you need anything else, I'll be here to listen. Just remember- if you set someone you love free, they'll come back if they love you, too."

Amy clicked the phone call to an end.

Hamilton stared at his phone, wondering a lot of different things.

Including the painful possibility that he might actually be in love with someone who'd never, ever love him back. He'd have to set her free, like he'd thought himself. Like he'd known, really, even before talking to Amy.

Good god, LOVE.

**~Ian~**

Amy was on the phone with Hamilton Holt, and she was talking about love.

As odd as the conversation was- and quite an interesting pair of people having it- every word Amy said was particularly surprising and captivating to Ian.

Ian was definitely annoyed when Amy's phone had started to ring. He had come to apologize and everything, and then the phone had to interrupt? He'd scowled quite obviously, and probably just because it bothered Ian, Amy had taken the call.

She'd stopped in her tracks- she'd been following Ian to where he was taking her.

Ian heard the entire phone call.

Everyone knew that dopey Tomas Holt was head over heels for the Starling girl, except for maybe the Holt himself. Unless that's what the call was about- he'd only just come to realization in that thick skull of his. Whatever, who cared? What was important was apologizing to Amy. He had to make her see... That he wasn't a complete monster. (Was he?)

He had to...

But his ears had perked up when he heard her talking about love. He stayed quiet and stared at the ground, quite obviously listening, because where else would he go? They were outside... As he listened, Ian felt an unfamiliar, nervous prickling sensation crawling up his arms. It was strange to think about love- to hear Amy talking about it.

He'd never really believed in it.

Not in the sense that it wasn't real, just, more in the sense that it wasn't worth all the trouble. To Ian, marriage was about trying to achieve a new status level. You were supposed to try to marry someone with as much or more money as you had- preferably more- and someone with a position of power. Marrying for love was absolutely stupid, something featured in movies far too often. Love was for fools. It never worked out.

So of course love was something Amy believed in.

Love was one of those things- up there with hope and happiness. Amy believed in those things, too.

So why did Amy sound so RIGHT? About all that love stuff? Why was it making so much sense if Ian didn't even believe in love? He'd wondered all of this while she was on the phone.

Honestly, admitting even to himself that he even liked Amy felt about as crazy as jumping out of a plane with no parachute. And he'd done that- admitted it to himself, not the no-parachute thing. But he'd also told her she was beautiful and she hadn't believed him. And now he was going to apologize for the things he'd done in the past, because if he didn't, she'd never believe anything he ever told her... Ian squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.

He'd told her he wanted to say sorry, so he was. Going to. When she got off the phone...

Ian had felt too out in the open at the Cahills house, so as a spur-of-the-moment thing, he'd decided he'd take her out back, into the bit of forest that fringed the small city of Attleboro. (There was forest land on Grace Cahill's property.) He'd told her to come with him and she had, looking confused but not saying much. And then they'd been walking into the forest when that stupid Holt interrupted... Wait. Amy had just hung up.

Ian raised an eyebrow at her, and as if this was a cue or something, Amy's face flushed.

"What was THAT about?" Ian asked her. "Where did you get all those opinions- an advice column?" Ian said. Amy looked cute when she was embarrassed.

"Nothing," Amy said, gritting her teeth. "I wish that had been a private conversation. Whatever." Amy shook her head, looking like she was trying to collect her thoughts. "Look, Ian. Whatever it is you want- can you just tell me already? And why did you bring me here?" She gestured to the forest around them, and then she crossed her arms, still slightly pink in the face.

"Sure I'll tell you. As long as you promise to listen." Ian said. He paused for a moment. "And we're HERE because I don't think I'd be... I don't know if I'd want to say it THERE." Ian frowned at his own words and pointed back the way they had come. Amy frowned, too.

"Fine. I promise to listen. Just..." She broke off, her eyes completely avoiding him. That stung a little bit too much- that she wouldn't even look at him. Ian winced. This was TOO hard, and he hadn't even started the apology yet... No, he thought. Good god. I HAVE to do it, I brought her away from the house and everything. And I already TOLD her I wanted to say sorry, even though she looks like she doesn't believe me...

All the more reason to apologize.

Ian took a deep breath. In his head, he'd justly composed an apology. The words he'd planned to say were strategic and clever. They were woven to make Amy realize that he was sorry, yes, but also to maybe take some of the damage of the things he'd done away. He'd created a speech that would make HER want to say sorry- even though she hadn't done a thing, in a respect- as much as it made her want to forgive him.

But now Ian could see that he could have had that particular apology laser-cut into the moon, and Amy Cahill wouldn't have been impressed. She wouldn't have fallen for a trick that would work on an ordinary girl.

Because she herself wasn't ordinary.

For an apology, Ian realized, Amy would want something... Genuine.

And despite all the time he'd spent preparing, he threw away all of his mental notes, and words he hadn't planned at all came tumbling out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry," He started, which just might be the very best way to start an apology. Suddenly, he wasn't really holding anything back. "I should have said so a long time ago. I was a real monster during the clue hunt, wasn't I?" He faltered for a moment, the full impact of his own words reaching him. "I did things I really can't justify. But I didn't know then. I didn't-" Ian struggled to find suitable words. "I didn't know what an idiot I was being. I didn't know you... Like I do now."

Amy still wasn't looking at him, but his eyes were definitely stuck on her. It actually helped to look at her- she was here, and now was the time to say sorry, and to really mean it, too. He hesitated, taking half a second to revel in how hard this was; then he went on.

"My whole life, I was brought up into a family who wanted nothing but the clues. I was taught to be merciless, to do whatever was necessary to get them. But that wasn't right. And as hard as it is to say, you're the person that made me realize that. That I'm a complete... black hole. So... Yes. I'm sorry. Because- when you didn't believe me- and you didn't accept my compliment-"

Ian couldn't finish. Hurt and for the first time in a long time, some embarrassment vibrated through his body. This was an absolute nightmare; everything he'd just said was utterly ridiculous. What he was feeling now was ridiculous, going against his nature. He closed his jaw tightly, his teeth gritting together. He crossed his arms, wishing he could backtrack and at least sound a little more dignified while he was forced to say he was sorry. He waited for a reaction from Amy.

Amy looked up from the ground, and to Ian's surprise, her green eyes slowly filled with tears. "You're not a black hole, Ian. Not at all. And I'm sorry, too."

Ian stared for a moment. "...For what?" He asked incredulously, taken by surprise that she was crying. He felt obliged to move closer to her now that she was actually looking at him and now that she was upset, so he did. Cautiously.

A few tears slid down Amy's cheeks, and she wiped them away with a sniffle. "I was mean to you last night. And... Other times. I should have trusted you more after the clue hunt." She frowned unhappily. Ian didn't think it was humanly possible for Amy to actually be mean. She was delusional. I'm still the bad guy, Ian marveled to himself. Because Amy was such a good person that he'd accidentally made her feel bad; and she was such a good person that he'd ALWAYS be the bad guy. Forever. But Amy wasn't done; She gave him a watery smile and wiped away the last of her tears from her short bout. "I accept your apology."

"Well, I accept your apology, too, though I'm still a little confused as to what you're apologizing for." Ian said, actually baffled. Then he felt his stomach twist into a thousand knots, and he felt like he'd been punched in the chest. Because he'd just realized that she'd forgiven him. Actually forgiven him. She was so... Nice. There really wasn't a word that fit better, because she was so kind and forgiving that she'd even forgive someone like him.

He smiled, and before he even knew what he was doing, he had wrapped his arms around her.

Up close, Amy smelled like... Cinnamon, Ian decided. And cinnamon was his favorite spice. It was very fitting, as it was exactly the color of her hair, which was soft against his cheek. Yes, he thought. She's ruined me completely.

But right now, he really didn't care at all.

Amy was still for a moment, and then she slowly returned the hug. If it was possible, the good feeling Ian had already been feeling became magnified by, like, a bazillion times.

He breathed in deeply and then held his breath, sure that he needed to savor this moment. He was sure he'd never be so close to her again.

He was very glad he'd apologized.

_A/N_

_(Sorry the Natalie was so short :( There wasn't too much to write about them in this chapter. Don't worry, they have some stuff coming up, I SWEAR. Lol)_

_This is random but I tend to give away story spoilers in PM's... xD_

_OH MY IAN KABRA, THIS CHAPTER. I WAS KIND OF FREAKING OUT WRITING IT, I DUNNO- WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?_

_1) Are you a Tumblr user? (I LOVE Tumblr... If you have an account, I'll follow you. Just tell me your URL.)_

_2) What is your favorite 39 Clues book? (Mine is definitely Into the Gauntlet. That book, even though it is far into the series, was the one that made me absolutely LOVE the series, though I did start getting kinda obsessed after book 8. Because. Mount. Everest. xD AND AMIAN *Sobs*)_

_3) What do you want to be 'when you grow up'? (You know my dream- to be an author. :))_

_4) Orange juice or iced tea?_

_... :O_

_Have a nice day!_

_~Lovely_


	23. Stuck

_A/N_

_OH MY GOSH!_

_Guys, you made my dreams come true- this is my MOST REVIEWED STORY EVER. *Squees* I mean, that's pretty monumental, don't you think? I'd like to thank you ALL. You guys are so polite and nice._

_I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH_  
_xD_

_Otherwise... A bunch of you people didn't even know what Tumblr was! :O It's a blogging website. Well, that's what they say it is, but it's really like, a picture website. Lol. It's super fun though, I'm REALLY addicted to it._

_Anyways, here, enjoy. :)_

_Disclaimer: I do nawt own the 39 Clues, okeh? Yeah, das what I thawt. _

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Stuck

**~Sinead~**

Why had he LEFT?

Sinead wondered this for the millionth time. She swirled around the noodles in her takeout Thai food container halfheartedly, not really that hungry. Frustration was growing and growing in the pit of her stomach, threatening to swallow her. Angrily Sinead stabbed her noodles with a fork; it really didn't help get any of her feelings out.

She looked at her watch. It had been approximately... 3 hours, 42 minutes and 39 seconds since she'd last seen Hamilton Holt.

Sinead abandoned her noodle carton on an end table and scooped up her new cat, Lincoln. Poor Lincoln. He was probably getting a little TOO much attention from Sinead- she'd almost not left him alone since Hamilton had left.

And hadn't come back.

Sinead had stayed in the living room of the guest house. She'd hoped Hamilton might come back and come looking for her, but he hadn't. So, get up and go yourself, she'd thought, but she just couldn't make herself do it. She'd ordered noodles for dinner, tried to watch TV, and petted Lincoln almost obsessively. But nothing was taking her mind off the wait, and quite frankly, she was starting to feel like she was waiting for a person who'd never come.

She sank down into the cushions of the couch, lying down, and arranging Lincoln to sit on her stomach.

"Should I go find him?" Sinead asked her cat. "Hamilton, I mean?"

Lincoln's eyes shone with intelligence and he watched Sinead's face intently while she spoke, eyes unblinking and watchful. But as smart a little critter as he was, he was a CAT. He couldn't answer Sinead and she knew that; she knew he didn't even understand what she was saying. She stroked his fuzzy head and sighed.

Lincoln purred in sympathy.

"I don't even get what happened." Sinead continued on, despite the fact that Lincoln was an animal. "We just... Kissed. Lincoln, we KISSED. You saw it. And then he just got up and left..."

Sinead imagined her cat's face to be skeptical. She frowned slightly.

"You don't get it. He just left. What does that mean? That he doesn't like me?"

Lincoln swished his tail. He was a lightweight on Sinead's stomach, quite a small animal.

"You think he does like me? How can you tell? You're a cat." Sinead winced. He was a cat and she was talking to him. "If Hamilton likes me," She went on, challenging her new pet with narrowed eyes, "Why did he leave?"

Lincoln said nothing.

"Right." Sinead said triumphantly. But she slumped down further into the cushions of the couch. "That means he doesn't like me at all."

After a moment, Sinead sat up, re-positioning her cat once again, so that he was sitting in her lap with her legs crossed. He waited patiently to be petted (he'd probably started to assume his new life was nothing BUT being petted), but Sinead was staring at the far wall, her hands at her sides. Lincoln jumped down to explore the basket in the corner of the room, leaving his owner. Sinead felt dread filling her like water. Go FIND Hamilton, a part of her was thinking fiercely. But the rest of her kept shooting down that idea with a million doubts.

Amy had said it was perfectly fine for Sinead to like Hamilton. She'd said that sometimes differences don't matter; that just because people didn't appear the same on the surface, that didn't mean they couldn't work... Together...?

That had been kind of confusing enough to Sinead. And Amy hadn't really said much on what would happen if Hamilton didn't like her back.

Sinead picked up her carton of half-eaten noodles yet again, and in her frustration she geared herself up to literally chuck it at the wall. Just as she was about to snap her arm forwards and let the noodles fly, the door opened and Hamilton Holt had the nerve to walk right in. In her surprise, Sinead accidentally dropped her noodles instead of throwing them.

**~Amy~**

He was... He was so...

Amy couldn't collect her thoughts at all. She felt quite like maybe someone had stolen them all and dumped them into one big, messy pile, a puddle on the ground. Her thoughts. Mixed up and confused.

Amy had started to feel that way ever since he'd hugged her.

Amy was now sitting in her room, attempting to clean herself up. In reality, she hadn't cried so much on the outside; it was the inside part of her that was a mess. Amy sat cross-legged on her bed, finding it hard, for some reason, to breath.

She felt so bad. She's judged him so wrongly. It was so unfair for him. She felt stupid; her cause for thinking badly towards him were because he'd given her a COMPLIMENT. She felt so, so stupid... She'd written him off as someone who would never change. She'd deemed him a person who only wanted to break her, for the sheer sport of it, and she felt terrible.

He'd gone so far as to compare himself to a black hole. It was probably her fault.

Ian.

"Okay, Amy," she whispered shakily to herself. "Shake it off. Keep going. He's downstairs waiting for you."

But he'd said sorry and he'd meant it. And he'd... Hugged her. When he'd actually done that she'd kind of gone numb. They'd just stood there, for almost a whole minute, close to each other. A few more of Amy's tears had made their way onto Ian's shirt. Which he probably hadn't appreciated. At least he hadn't said anything about it.

The aftershock feeling she was getting from thinking about that hug was driving her crazy. She felt very on edge; very jumpy and flinch-y. She twisted a strand of hair around her finger, trying to discern her feelings. How much of what she felt was guilt? How much was selfish happiness- happiness that he'd apologized? That he'd... Hugged her...?

And then there was the possibility that she... That she might possibly maybe actually kind of like him.

A lot.

Amy shivered, but she wasn't cold. I don't like him, she decided firmly to herself, but it was a bit more of trying to convince herself than rather actual decision. I'm just... Surprised he said sorry, she thought. She grabbed a jacket out of her closet and slipped it on, and she willed her legs to work, to carry her downstairs. She realized she was holding her breath; she let it out at the bottom of the stairs.

Ian smiled when he saw her.

In that moment, her stomach housed a thousand butterflies.

"S-so- what should we do?" She asked him, fighting to try and keep things 'normal'. She fidgeted. She couldn't help but think of the way it had felt to be so close to him, not so long before. She'd never been that close to him before- except for maybe when they were in Korea. But this time, it was different- they closer as actual people, too. She knew him more. He'd seemed so... Human back there. He'd apologized.

He'd hugged her.

It sent shivers down her spine.

"I was thinking we could go right ahead and move along to Phase Three." Ian said. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Amy envied the ease he always spoke with. No stuttering from him, Ian the suave Kabra.

"Phase Three?" Amy asked stupidly, forgetting what he was even talking about as she easily got lost in his eyes. It was rather unfair, actually. For someone to be so good-looking. That they could actually render you useless. And make you forget a plan you yourself helped to devise. Because that WAS what he meant- their plan.

"You know, the revenge plan," Ian said patiently. "Against the two little inferiors that call themselves our siblings. And, you know, dared to lock us into your room with an unpick-able lock." He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. His arms, that had been around her. "Dan," He elaborated, probably because her expression was blank. "And Natalie."

"Oh! Oh- yes! Right." Amy said, realization flooding her thoughts. She felt like a door of of its hinges. "You want to do it now?" She asked, still feeling dumb, and he nodded.

The plan, then.

Amy and Ian went right about it, and Amy was glad she knew what she was doing. That way, she didn't have to talk to Ian while they set it in motion.

**~Dan~**

Natalie had forgiven him.

This seemed definite now, and it really made him grin. He dug into yet another pancake, and Natalie, watching him, looked revolted.

"Have you reached 30 yet?" She asked sarcastically. She shuddered. "You just keep... Packing them in." Dan imagined her turning green. He rolled his eyes, happily taking another bite of his pancake.

"I think I've eaten a grand total of..." He counted. "17. I think. Give or take a few. But I might make it to 30 if I keep going- who knows?" Dan asked grandly, with a smile to match his tone. Natalie winced.

Suddenly, they heard a loud yell outside the kitchen window.

"Give it back!"

Dan looked at Natalie. Natalie looked at Dan. At the same time, they both bolted for the window to see what was going on. "Amy," Dan whispered, peeking out the window. It had been his sister who yelled. Dan's eyes widened. Amy was running after Ian, who was holding a book. Dan frowned. It seemed like Ian was a real jerk sometimes. Dan wasn't sure he'd ever trust him. And now that he thought about it, it kind of made him mad that Amy was stuck with that loser all week...

Natalie rolled her eyes.

"My brother is an idiot," She said through gritted teeth. "Come on." She marched towards the exit of the kitchen. Dan's eyes followed her, a black expression on his face. Yeah, Ian was a jerkface. But he was sure Amy could handle it.

"'Come on'?" Dan questioned. "I still have like, 13 pancakes to go!" He crossed his arms. Natalie said nothing- she just marched back over and grabbed Dan's hand. Then she pulled him along with her. They hurried outside. Ian slipped into the door of the Cahill house- Grace's house- and Amy followed him, still yelling about the book. "Why do you want to help Amy?" Dan asked, trying to keep up with Natalie.

"I don't. But maybe I want to help my stupid brother."

"Wait, you want to take the book, too?" Dan asked, astonished. Natalie shook her head and opened the front door of the Cahill house.

"No, Dan. What would I want with some old book?" She flipped her hair and Dan followed her inside, the door almost swinging shut in his face. "My brother isn't nearly as smart as he likes to think he is. He just FANCIES her, and he's going about it completely wrong." Natalie walked briskly towards the living room, where Dan could hear voices.

Dan stared for a moment before recovering. Natalie thought Ian had an ACTUAL crush on Amy? Wow, that was pretty gross...

The living room didn't have anyone in it. Dan frowned, confused. Then he- and Natalie, too- heard noises coming from the closet. "What the heck?" Dan muttered, walked towards it carefully. Natalie trailed him for a moment, then bravely took the lead. She rested her hand on the doorknob, but she didn't turn it. "Are they IN there?" Dan asked quietly, horrified. He called out, "Amy?"

Natalie opened the door, and at that moment, a shadow fell across her and Dan. Dan's eyes widened, but he was too late- Ian Kabra shoved him and Natalie into the closet, shutting the door firmly.

"No!" Natalie wailed, banging on the door. She said something that was surprisingly unladylike and even Dan wouldn't want to repeat. "We were set up!" She hissed.

From the other side of the door, Dan could hear Ian laughing. And then Amy, too. His first reaction was actually that of relief, relief that Ian wasn't actually being mean to Amy. Then he felt angry, realizing that he'd been tricked. It had probably all been Ian's idea. He pounded on the door with his fists. Inside the closet, it was dark, and OF COURSE the door knob was stuck. The only light Dan could see was coming in from underneath the door.

"Okay," Dan called. "The smoothie thing, that was kind of funny. THIS isn't." He waited. In the dark, he crossed his arms, accidentally- and painfully- knocking elbows with Natalie.

"You locked us in a room." Came the simple, calm-voiced reply from Ian. And then Dan heard the sounds of two people walking away, with one last call from Ian: "Don't worry, we're even now!"

Dan let out a hiss of disgust. He was locked in a closet, and there were so many lovely pancakes getting wasted right now... Thinking that almost brought tears to Dan's eyes.

"Is there a light in here?" Natalie said, her voice almost timid as she broke the silence. But he felt like he could feel the anger rolling off of her in waves. Dan frowned. For a moment, he'd almost forgotten that she was in there with him.

"I think." Dan muttered. He turned himself around- and he was grateful that he had enough room to do that- and searched for a cord. He knew there was one somewhere, with a little dial on it for a light... Dan let out a muffled "Found it" while his face was stuffed in a coat. He switched the dial and yellow-y light came on overhead. Dan turned himself around again.

"Can you get us out of here?" Natalie asked. She was so close to him. He pressed himself as close as he could against the wall. They were still brushing. His heart was in his throat. Natalie's eyes were big and amber and beautiful. Natalie frowned. "Are you okay?" Her big eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me you're going to get sick- I KNEW you shouldn't have eaten all those pancakes!"

Dan shook his head. "I'm fine," He said, but his throat felt strangely dry. He coughed. Okay, he thought. Time to get out of here.

The doorknob was jammed, obviously. There was nothing Dan could do except jiggle it unless he had something to properly loosen it with. And he didn't. He couldn't just break the knob off, either. That would totally lock them in there... There were no air vents to crawl through. They could try to break the door down. No, they couldn't- there was no way that either of them had the strength to do that without gathering some momentum, and they couldn't do that in the confined space.

"Hate to break it to you." Dan said, his heart speeding up when he felt Natalie's hand brush his. "But we're completely stuck."

_A/N_

_You guys, I'm almost to 500 reviews. __*dances* __YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE?! I peeked, and this is the 3rd most reviewed story in the 39 Clues section. And we're REALLY close to being 2nd. Do you KNOW how exciting that is?! *cartwheels*_

_OTHER NEWS: PLEASE check out my other story, London, if you haven't done that yet. Thanks._

_Thanks SO MUCH EVERYONE!_

_1) What has been your favorite chapter name so far? (I personally like 'Ian, the Black Hole'. I dunno why. xD)_

_2)Do you play a musical instrument? (I play the drums and the piano- quite advanced at drums, not so advanced at piano... xD I also sing, which I count if you're professional about it :))_

_3) What was the last book you read? (This can count a book you're reading right now, if y'like. Right now, I'm reading Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. I've read it before, but it's a really good book.)_

_4) Who's the coolest person you ever met? (Your mom? Or a famous person? xD I'd have to say the coolest person I ever met was Jon Foreman. He's the singer of my favorite band.)_

_THANKS EVERYONE :D_

_~Lovely_


	24. Quiet Closet

_A/N_

_This chapter marks the end of day four._

_For the Cahills, tomorrow is day 5- and after that, 2 days left... __Has anyone noticed how LONG this story has gotten?! I have NO IDEA how that happened. Honestly. o_O Maybe I'll have 39 chapters when I'm done :D xD I'd love that!_

_In other news, we made it to the 2nd most reviewed story! And to 500 reviews! :D Thank you all SO much! :D I LUV U SO MUCHNESS_

_Disclaimer: I wouldn't own the 39 Clues if a giant chicken-shaped alien space craft appeared in the sky, beamed me up, and took it to it's mother planet :(_

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Quiet Closet

**~Natalie~**

It felt very stuffy and hot inside the closet, and Natalie was mad.

She was mad because she was uncomfortable, and because this yellow light was terribly unflattering, and she was mad that there was NO way to get out, it seemed. So they'd have to wait for someone or other to LET them out. How embarrassing.

She supposed she could turn this around and blame it on Dan again, for it was him, initially, who started the pranking, but for once she didn't because that wouldn't really help. It would just make them mad at each other. And she didn't want to be mad at Dan if she was literally locked in a closet with him.

Natalie sighed and sank down, sitting on the floor. There was enough room to stand or sit, but Natalie decided to sit.

A long few minutes passed and neither Dan nor Natalie said a word; Natalie was listening for sounds of people who might be nearby, so that she could start making a racket and drawing attention towards the closet. Dan was still standing, but he eventually sank down to a sitting position, too. "We'll have to wait," Dan admitted, sounding slightly annoyed and saying aloud what they both already knew. Natalie nodded.

She was about to say something, when the light bulb hanging from the top of the closet gave a loud popping noise and sparks jumped out of it. Natalie screamed, taken by the surprise. The light bulb flickered, then went out.

"Great," She hissed, and if Ian were there she would have strangled him. You just DON'T lock Natalie Kabra in a dark closet.

You. Just. Don't.

"It's okay," Dan offered. But he, too, had jumped at the sound of the light bulb failing. "Just the light bulb."

"It's NOT okay." Natalie muttered, resting her head against the wall. Of course, this wasn't very comfortable. She kicked the door with her foot, but this of course did nothing except make the sound of a dull thump.

Dan spoke his response, and Natalie couldn't see him anymore in the dark, but she imagined he was rolling his eyes. "It's not THAT bad," Dan reasoned. "We'll just have to stick it out. Someone will probably be by soon, anyway..." He sighed. Natalie squirmed, starting to feel just as uncomfortable about being close to Dan as she was about actually being stuck in a closet. The light flooding beneath the door seemed to mock her.

Natalie shifted yet again, trying to find a comfortable position. She hadn't felt comfortable standing, and now she wasn't having much luck with sitting, either. More time passed, and it was so quiet that Natalie could hear the ticking sounds Dan's Spider-Man watch was making. Natalie felt incredibly alone, for some reason, which was silly, she thought, because Dan was literally RIGHT there.

"This is so boring." Dan commented finally, the first to speak in a while. He kicked the door, like Natalie had earlier. The door didn't budge. (Or course.) "I never got the chance to make it to 30 pancakes." Dan grumbled. A silent moment passed.

Then, surprising both Natalie and Dan, laughter welled up in Natalie's throat and spilled out of her mouth. "Yes," She said, nudging Dan's arm. "THAT is what's so terrible about our predicament."

He laughed, too.

Before Natalie knew what she was doing, she had rested her head on Dan's shoulder, rather then against the wall. She sighed. What AM I doing? She thought incredulously, but she didn't move away. This was certainly more comfortable than being smooshed up against the wall again. Sure, I know I like him now, she thought quietly, but I didn't ever think I'd... She didn't really finish the thought, she just relaxed.

Dan, however, was really stiff.

Natalie could feel it. What am I doing? She though again, this time, much more nervously. Dan was about to yell at her, to 'ew' her or something. Just as she was about to snap back into her former position and accuse him of only WISHING that she'd rested her head against his shoulder, Dan, too, relaxed. So she didn't move away.

And he never said a word about her head on his shoulder, or how perfectly it fit there.

**~Hamilton~**

Hamilton Holt was good at swimming, but right now, he was drowning.

This was a different kind of drowning, however, than the kind you might do in water. He was drowning in his own thoughts.

Maybe he loved her. And maybe he didn't. But what mattered was that he set things right again, or as right as he could get them to be. And when he entered the room Sinead had spilled noodles on the floor and Lincoln the cat was staring at him judgmentally, as if to say, "Why did you kiss her, then leave?!". And that kind of made him want to turn right around and leave again. But he didn't.

Sinead was staring at him.

"Hi," He said.

Sinead's gaze dropped for a moment to the floor, where she'd spilled Thai takeout noodles everywhere. She scowled at the mess for a moment, but made no attempt to clean it up. "HI?" She questioned, turning her scowl on him. Hamilton winced. She's mad, he thought, and he thought he knew why. He thought it was because he'd kissed her.

"Yeah." Hamilton said. He was trying to think of something else to say, but it didn't seem that Sinead was going to wait for him.

"You..." She faltered slightly, still frowning. She tugged her sleeves farther down over her wrists. "You have some explaining to do, I think." She crossed her arms.

"You're right." Hamilton said. He glanced at the couch. He would have liked to sit down with her there and talk, but there were noodles all over the floor in front of it. And maybe that was actually a good thing- because on that couch was where they had kissed. Hamilton's face burned. "Uhm..." He crossed the room and sat down in one of the chairs that resided there. He waited a moment, and grudgingly, she followed him. Hamilton took a deep breath when she sat down, and he said, "I'm sorry I kissed you."

Sinead watched Lincoln play with a noodle across the room. "Sorry?" She questioned hardly, without looking at him.

"Yup." He said, still thinking a million things. And he wasn't normally very eloquent anyway, but now he was particularly un-so. "Er," He said, "I shouldn't have."

Sinead's foot tapped against the floor, and she still wasn't looking at him. Gosh, Hamilton thought nervously. He thought of when she had showed him her scars. Had he undone all the friendship they had come to build? That sounded like a nightmare to him. The idea of her actually hating him- not just... Only wanting to be friends- sounded unbearable. "What makes you say that?" She said, and he realized that she was talking.

"Well... I know..." Now he faltered. He took another deep breath and he started over. "I know it was kind of hard for us to be friends at first. So... I guess I mean that I shouldn't have- pushed you like that." Pause.

"PUSHED me?" She asked, finally looking at him, her intelligent eyes quite wide.

"Yeah," He said with a shrug. "I think I messed everything up." He attempted to smile. It didn't go over so well. So he went on; "I won't do anything like that again. I'm really sorry. I mean it- and I'd really like it if you'd still... Be friends with me?" It sounded so lame and he had no idea what he was doing, but he hoped it was the right thing. But Amy had said he should let her go. So, his own eyes widening, he added quietly, "But I understand if you don't want to. Be friends, I mean."

And for a bit, Sinead said nothing, and she looked away from him.

He dreadfully wanted her to speak. More than anything, at that moment- more even than he had wanted to be the basketball captain that one time in 6th grade. (Which he hadn't- The position had gone to Perry Donahan, some mousy kid, on account of the fact that he had 'good strategy', and because Hamilton was already captain of the soccer team and the football team. Eisenhower hadn't stood for that, though, and had literally transferred Ham to another school- this time, specializing in sports.)

He felt like he could hear his heart beating and it seemed so loud, he wondered if she could hear it too.

And then finally, she seemed to burst, as if she had known what she wanted to say all of that time, she just was sure exactly how to. "You think I wouldn't want to be your friend because we kissed?" She said, confusion evident by her tone and the look on his face.

Hamilton blinked. He hadn't considered that... Whatever THIS was might happen. If fact, he'd kind of assumed that the worst would happen in the space of time that she'd been so silent- that she'd never want to talk to him again, or something dramatic like that. "Yes?" He answered, a questioning look on his face.

Sinead shook her head, still confused. "Can I ask you something?" She said, and he nodded. "...Why, exactly, did you kiss me?"

Hamilton's face began to burn again. "Isn't that kinda obvious?" He muttered, but when he looked at her, it apparently wasn't. It seemed that as smart as Sinead Starling was with equations and formulas, she, too, was stupid when it came to romance. Utterly clueless. Hamilton shook his head, bewildered at this situation, but still scarlet in the face. "It's because I LIKE you," He said.

"YOU like ME?" She said, completely surprised. Hamilton winced, not sure where this was going. But he nodded yes. And then Sinead smiled, and her smile turned into a full-out grin. What, she thinks this is funny? Hamilton thought miserably. She's going to laugh at me now? Is that what this is?

But Sinead wasn't laughing at him at all. Instead, she leaned over quickly in her chair, towards him, and flung her arms around him happily in a hug. "I thought you left because you didn't like me!" Sinead said. Hamilton was too surprised to move. One thing was certain, though. His sadness was definitely gone. As quickly as she had hugged him, she pulled away, smiling shyly.

Hamilton's mind was still drawing blanks. "So..." He muttered, confused. He liked Sinead, and he'd been scared she didn't like him... But she'd been scared that he didn't like her...? Did that mean that... Hamilton's eyes popped wide open. "Wait a minute." He said. It seemed so incomprehensible- it was totally impossible, it was just-

"Yes, Holt," Sinead said, reading his expression and rolling her eyes. "I like you, too."

**~Ian~**

"So... Uh, when will we let them out of the closet?" Amy had asked after their little tricking and locking escapade, twisting a strand of her hair around her finger.

Ian had simply smirked and replied, "Later."

Now they were just sort of lounging around in Amy's room. It was funny, because they'd been locked in there for so long before, so you'd think they'd want to be anywhere but there. Somehow, though, Ian didn't mind it at all when he knew the doorknob was definitely not stuck. (They'd fixed it quickly after their escape- easy to do from the outside.) Besides, Amy's room was a perfect representation of who she was.

And he liked that.

Amy was lying on her bed, reading a book. Technically, Ian was supposed to be reading, too- Amy had insisted that whatever the book she'd shoved at him was a good read- but he kind of wasn't, and instead he was kind of watching her. Bad habit.

When Amy was reading, you could tell what she was thinking. You could just see it on her face. She'd get tense at some points, hardly daring to breath; then let out tiny, quiet sighs of relief. Sometimes she'd bite her lip, thoughtful. She'd look so submerged in what she was reading, as if she was really somewhere else. And he supposed she might have looked like that earlier, when he'd interrupted her reading outside, under the tree in the shade.

To apologize.

Ian himself was sitting in a chair across the room. He wondered if two people reading in the same room counted as spending quality time together. Not that he particularly minded so much- he liked watching Amy while she was reading. He felt like he was seeing a different side of her, one she might normally hide.

Ian suddenly wondered very much what it would be like to kiss her.

He grimaced slightly at the thought. He wasn't one to lose his head over things like girls. And yes, he liked Amy, but the sudden mushy thoughts were getting a little bit too overboard- and they'd been doing that ever since he'd hugged her earlier. It was like he was... Daydreaming, or something, and he didn't like it. It was embarrassing. And his mind also kept replaying that moment for him, too- when they'd hugged.

"Amy," Ian said suddenly, voicing his thoughts from earlier, more to take his mind off of his overactive imagination than anything else, "Does this-" -and he gestured to the book she'd given him, which all together he'd read about 2 paragraphs out of- "-count as spending time together?"

Amy sat up on the bed. "I don't know." She said, looking a little detached and her eyes still on her book. She ripped her gaze off of it and cleared her throat. "I WAS reading earlier, before you interrupted me," She joked. "It was the good part. I had to finish." She smiled faintly.

Ian crossed his arms, his book in his right hand. "You're glad I interrupted you," He said. "Don't pretend not to be." He smiled.

On a whim, Ian decided to join her at the other side of the room, leaving the book he'd been holding on the chair he'd been sitting in.

He sat down beside her, and she flipped her book closed, looking at him curiously. In return, he watched her closely, searching every inch of her face for some sort of hatred towards him. He knew it was irrational that there might be- but he was paranoid. He'd said sorry and she'd forgiven him, but in the back of his mind, a voice was saying, What if? What if she still hates you?

She didn't. He could tell. He felt immensely relieved.

He thought again of what it would be like to kiss her, but this time, she wasn't on the other side of the room. She was right there. Right next to him. He imagined that to kiss her would feel even better than hugging her, which, he admitted, had felt really nice.

Really.

"Why are you staring at me?" Amy asked finally, like a deer in headlights. Her lovely eyes were so wide. "What?" She asked him nervously, insistently.

Ian leaned back, away from her. He waved the question away and he stood up. "I think we should let Dan and Natalie out of the closet before they kill each other." He remarked. He paused, then added, "If they haven't already."

"Oh, okay." Amy said. She stood up, too, and walked out the door, probably expecting Ian to follow.

Ian bit into his cheek, hard, trying to knock himself back to reality. There would be no kissing Amy Cahill, so he had to get his head out of the clouds and stop being so completely ridiculous.

He sighed and trailed after her.

_A/N_

_This is totally random, but I HOPE my sister never reads this. I'm serious. Sister, if you ever see this, OH MY GOODNESS. *Dies of embarrassment*_

_Some of you know that I ordered my older sister- college age sister- to read the 39 Clues books. She hasn't read them all yet, (I believe she read 8 thus far) but she knows I write FanFiction and stuff, and like, I SERIOUSLY hope she never reads this because it's SO _**EMBARRASSING**_! xD Only because she knows me in person. She'd better never make fun of me for this! xD_

_...I'm pretty shy about my writing. Lol_

_1) Who's part did you like the best today? :)_

_2) If you've ever seen My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, who is your favorite character? (xD I love that show. I like Applejack best, Rarity is a close second. xD)_

_3) Chocolate cheesecake or chocolate covered strawberries?!_

_4) What colors are you wearing right now? (I'm wearing red pajamas xD)_

_:)_

_~Lovely_


	25. The Attleboro Fair

_A/N_

_I present to you-_

_Day 5! *cheering*_

_(Guys- guys I don't think you understand how much I want this story to end with exactly 39 chapters... xD)_

_THANK YOU REVIEWERS! I'VE MADE IT TO +550! *EXPLODES* _

_(Hey look there's a cameo appearance of Jonah Wizard. xD And a short appearance of Nellie, too! ;D And... Don't hurt me... But... _**EVAN TOLLIVER**_.)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues, and me buying the rights to it seems pretty unrealistic right now, seeing as I currently have like... $3 dollars to my name... Uhm... But I AM going to babysit two days next week. That should help with the money. Cause then I'll probably have, like, $5 dollars..._

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: The Attleboro Fair

**~Sinead~**

Sinead Starling was feeling pretty good.

In fact, she hadn't been this happy since that time she successfully put together a clear toaster. (Sinead had always hated burnt toast quite passionately. Now her toast would never burn again.)

She felt like singing in the rain or something. Even though it wasn't raining. And her singing kind of sounded like a dying rabbit...

The point was, she was HAPPY.

As awkward as she and Hamilton managed to make all of their interactions between each other, she felt like... Well, now that she knew that he actually liked her... Sinead grinned. Who was she kidding? This was totally even BETTER than making sure she never had to eat a piece of charred toast again- because Hamilton LIKED her.

Sinead was about to tie her hair up into a ponytail, but she stopped a moment before she actually wrapped the elastic around her flame-colored hair. I should leave it down, she thought. It kind of made her face burn to think so, but she added to the end of her thoughts, Hamilton likes it when my hair is down. The more rational part of her thought, though, that she kept her hair up for a reason- because it was always hanging into her eyes. So, with a sigh, Sinead put it up after all, and consoled herself by deciding that she'd leave her hair down on the last day of the week- at the party that everyone was spreading rumors about.

She was really mostly unperturbed, though- she went out of her room humming.

The night before, she and Hamilton had kind of shyly just parted ways. The two sides of Sinead were fighting- the rational side that she'd always had, and the new found side of her that was kind of... Girly. The part of her that had probably always been there- like her little secret love of romance movies- but had for the most part, gotten crushed beneath the heel of her rationality.

Last night, her mind had been everywhere. The rational side was actually a little disappointed that she didn't get another kiss, and that nothing had been final- no asking of her to be his girlfriend, not even any asking about going on a date. But the happier side at the moment- the romance-y side- had told her rationality to shut up, because she WAS going to enjoy the fact that he liked her. Besides, they'd only kissed once, and only just learned that they were interested in each other. They weren't about to go get married or something.

So, in short, the romantic side of her had actually won out. And Sinead had went to bed as one of those giggly girls, reduced to a pile of mush for a while when she was alone (or mostly alone, Natalie had been sleeping) that would have disappointed Ned and Ted, who expected their sister to be a level-headed Ekat. Whatever, Sinead thought disdainfully. I'm also a teenage GIRL.

Sinead happily bounced downstairs and got a bowl of Cheerios. Then she cut a banana into slices and put it in her cereal.

A few people came in and out, most of them grabbing an on-the-go breakfast, shouting a quick hello to Sinead on their way by. Their hastiness, she figured, was a result of them having a place to be. That made her wonder where Hamilton was, but she shrugged it off and ate more cereal.

At one point, Jonah Wizard popped into the kitchen to grab a banana. Sinead stopped him by the arm.

"What's everyone rushing around for?" She asked, shaking her head. It no longer seemed to her that everyone was just up to hang out with their designated partners for the week. Because for one thing, everyone was up at the same time, and Sinead personally knew some of the Cahills wouldn't get up at this hour unless they had to.

Jonah flashed his million dollar smile. "Some fair thing in town, yo. Here." He handed Sinead a piece of paper, which she hadn't even realized he was holding. "Flyers all over town. Look, I gotta run. I'm meeting your bro Ted over there, since we gotta hang out and all." Jonah continued to grin, giving Sinead a salute with the banana he'd grabbed off of the counter. "He's actually a pretty cool dude!"

Jonah disappeared out the front door. Sinead smiled, glad to hear that Mr. Fancy Hip Hop was getting along with one of her brothers. Initially, Sinead hadn't been quite so sure about this week- actually, she'd kind of hated that first day with Hamilton. Now she felt completely opposite, and very glad that Amy was such a smart person, giving the Cahills a chance to hang out with someone one-on-one... Sinead glanced at the flyer Jonah had given her.

Just then, Hamilton came into the kitchen.

"Hamilton!" Sinead said, surprising him. When he saw her, he looked kind of embarrassed, like he'd tripped or done something wrong, even though he hadn't. Sinead smiled at him. "I know what we're doing today."

**~Dan~**

So Dan was walking along at the fair with Natalie, as if nothing had happened between them.

It was kind of driving him crazy. Either Natalie was a master bluffer-actress or he was a nutcase who'd only IMAGINED that little scene in the closet. They were currently walking towards the hot dog stand, but Dan had so much on his mind that he wasn't sure if he'd even WANT hot dog when they got there. Which was like, saying a lot.

Because being all squished up in that closet... Man. Dan felt sick thinking about it, only because WHAT THE HECK HAD ACTUALLY HAPPENED?

One minute they were just people who'd cruelly been locked in a closet and the next they were... Well, people who were really close. Or something.

She'd had her head on his shoulder and everything.

Dan sighed and kicked a rock as they walked along. He'd forgotten about the fair until this morning- it was the same day every year, but Dan hadn't realized it was coming up until he actually saw the date on the kitchen calendar. Normally, he went to the fair with Amy and Nellie. It was actually kind of disappointing to go this time without them. It WAS a good time dragging Amy to the hot dog vender every 20 minutes- Dan was trying to recreate that now with Natalie- and he'd probably miss that today. BUT his sister had locked him in a closet. So whatever.

So that morning Dan had- nerve wracking-ly- gotten Natalie, but she was as cool as a cucumber, or whatever that expression was. Just like nothing at all out of the ordinary had happened. Dan had relaxed a little, but he was still super confused about what had gone on between them.

At the time, being stuck in that closet really hadn't been so bad. (MAYBE that had to do with the fact that he liked being that close to Natalie. Maybe.) It hadn't been uncomfortable at all, actually, once he'd relaxed. There was utter silence between them, but it was a kind of nice silence. Which was interesting, because Dan was usually more of a NOISE kind of guy. But it had been kind of a quiet understanding, Dan had thought. Like, whatever happened between them they'd both stay quiet about. It was like an unspoken agreement that they both shared. And so Natalie had dared to lean against him. Probably for comforts sake, Dan thought.

But it was kind of scary how much he'd wanted to hold her hand in that moment. Like, more than he'd wanted Master-Destroyers Destiny of Gore IX when it came out the year before. Because he'd wanted that game a LOT. What was his world coming to if girls were more important than video games?

They'd stayed that way- quiet and close- for a long, long time. And then, quite suddenly, Natalie's head had snapped off of his shoulder, and she'd hissed, "Someone is coming!"

It was Amy and Ian, and they'd let them out. Dan had flinched at the sudden flood of light. Natalie didn't say a word to Amy, Ian, OR Dan- she simply glared at her brother and Dan's sister and stalked off to her room, quietly seething, Dan thought. Dan had been to dazed to say much, and he too, had walked away, Amy looking quite surprised that he wasn't threatening to behead Ian or something.

Anyway.

Now Natalie was holding out her end of the unspoken bargain really well, and Dan wasn't. He felt like grabbing Natalie by the shoulders and shaking her all dramatically, like, WHAT HAPPENED? CAN YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME?

He didn't do anything of that sort, though.

But he wondered if he should. Really. He wondered if he should ask her about it. Confront her. Not like, in that psychopathic way- but just... Actually ASK her. He wondered what she'd say; she'd probably give him some totally rational explanation, like he'd been thinking earlier. She'd probably say that she was so uncomfortable that being burned at stake would have felt nicer, and the only way she could have felt remotely comfortable was to put her head... On... His shoulder...

Dan winced, wondering why this was so hard.

"This kind of reminds me of your amusement park." Natalie remarked, snapping Dan out of his thoughts.

"Oh!" Dan said. "Really?" He put his hands in his pockets. He supposed he could see it. The games were kind of like the ones at Super Awesome Fantastic Adventureland. "See anything you want to do?" He asked, trying to be polite. He stopped walking. Natalie looked around.

"Not particularly." She said neutrally. "I don't care."

They stood there for a moment, neither of them saying much. Or anything, actually.

Dan's mouth went all dry, as it usually did when he was looking at Natalie or... Or thinking about how he liked her. "Nat..." He started, his mouth only forming the first half of her name. But Dan was saved from actually having to say anything else because at that moment, a crazy looking Nellie who ran up. Dan turned to her, surprised. Natalie scowled, either at the general presence of Dan and Amy's legal guardian, or maybe because Dan hadn't finished what he was saying. Natalie crossed her arms and sighed boredly.

"Hiya, kiddos," Nellie said. Natalie grimaced at being referred to as a 'kiddo'. Nellie poked Dan's arm. "Have you seen Amy? I need to talk to her. Like, ASAP." Nellie looked in a hurry. Dan shrugged.

"I haven't seen her, but I'm sure she's here somewhere."

Nellie rolled her eyes. "Fine, well, thanks for your help. Have a fun time at the fair- and Dan, don't eat too many hot dogs again. You know what happened last time!" Nellie yelled, and she dashed off.

"I wonder what that was about," Dan muttered, but he didn't really care.

"Yeah," Said Natalie, sounding equally disinterested. A moment passed, and then Natalie said, "Dan?"

"Yeah?" He responded.

"Were you going to... Say something?"

"...No."

**~Amy~**

She'd dragged Ian to the fair.

But come on- Amy HAD to go. She went every year. And surprisingly, it seemed that most of the other Cahills were going, anyway. Amy wondered if they were bored with the slow-city of Attleboro.

Whatever, the summer fair was FUN. She went every year with Dan. And that was a bit disappointing, in a way, that she couldn't go this time with him. But she knew he probably wasn't disappointed, so... That meant she was taking Ian.

Amy wasn't feeling sad or anything, but the bright colors of the summer fair made her feel cheerier anyway. There were balloons, and bright signs advertising corny games and stuff like that. There were stuffed animals and blow-up guitars and swords. There was cotton candy, and hot dogs- Amy hoped briefly that Dan had the sense not to repeat his actions of having a few too many of those, like he had last year- and there were a few small rides. There were lights, which Amy knew would look great once it got dark out, and there were people everywhere, toting painted faces and prizes that they'd won.

Ian looked quite unimpressed. Amy rolled her eyes. He was so closed minded sometimes.

Amy was thinking they could go and see the dog show- it was kind of a tradition. Everyone always went to see which dog would win, even though they always knew it'd be Mr. Carlson with his German Shepard Touvok. But whatever, it was fun, and Mr. Carlson and Touvok were like, Attleboro celebrities. She was about to suggest they head over there for the judging and then the announcement of Touvok's win, but to Amy's surprise, Nellie dashed up.

"Amy!" Nellie said, looking relieved.

"Hi, Nellie-" Amy started, but Nellie cut her off.

"Amy, I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you got hurt." Nellie winced and picked up Amy's useless, cast-ed left wrist. "I can explain. But first- You ARE alright, right?"

Amy giggled at Nellie's fussing. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"Is your wrist broken?"

"Yeah, but it's okay. It does't hurt much and I only have to wear the cast for a few weeks."

Nellie winced again. "I'm sorry, Amy. I couldn't come- I was on the phone with Perry McGalo." Nellie said.

"Perry McGalo?" Amy asked, not exactly recognizing the name. "Is that the name of that famous used car salesman guy?"

Nellie shook her head. "Perry McGalo is NOT a used car salesman." Her eyes widened. "He's a famous chef! Gosh, you and Dan don't know a thing about the amazing world of fine cuisine, and the people who make revolutionary food... Anyway. Well... I kind of got this once in a lifetime chance- a spot at his end-of-the-summer food camp." Nellie looked anxious now. Amy wondered what a food camp was. Nellie saw her expression and answered the question. "The camp is a chance to work with McGalo himself for a whole week. But I only had one chance at an interview," Nellie continued. "It was over the phone, and I didn't get your calls. Once I found out you got hurt I felt terrible- If I had known, I would have skipped the interview and been right there with you." Nellie sighed. "I'm sorry, kiddo." She ruffled Amy's hair.

Amy politely ducked away, and she smiled. "It's no big deal, Nellie. Honestly- it was okay. I was fine- I mean, I was with Ian." Amy felt her cheeks getting pink when she said that, so she rushed on. "I mean- I wouldn't have wanted you to skip your interview, anyway. It sounds like it was a big deal. I'm glad you got the spot." Amy grinned, genuinely understanding and glad.

Nellie beamed. "Knew you'd understand." She said. She squeezed Amy in a tight hug, then ran off, fist in the air, yelling, "PERRY MCGALO!"

Ian raised an eyebrow at Nellie's escaping form. "...Okay then." He said. "That explains why she wasn't answering the calls at the hospital." Ian straightened, and turned his gaze towards Amy. "So- what would you like to do at this fair you've dragged me to?"

Amy giggled, for once knowing that he was actually kidding. That was kind of nice. For a minute, she forgot all about Mr. Carlson and his celebdog, Touvok, and generally was just looking forward to spending some time with Ian when he seemed to be in a good mood. "Well," Amy said, "I suppose I could DRAG you over to the cotton candy guy."

"As you wish," Ian said sarcastically, but he went with her to get some, anyway.

While they were standing in the short line, Amy saw someone she knew.

His name was Evan Tolliver. He went to Amy's school, and Amy had a big crush on him. Amy stiffened when she saw him, but then she relaxed, not feeling nervous at all, for some reason. Usually, seeing Evan made her feel jumpy and scared that she'd make a fool of herself.

Evan was that really, really nice guy. He wore these big, doofy, coke-bottle glasses- but they were kind of cute- and he was super smart. He was a wiz with computers, and math, and stuff like that. Amy had thought she'd always like him- she kind of couldn't remember NOT liking him. On this particular day, Evan was with a few of his other friends, who were also the nerdy-cute types of guys, and they were laughing and eating french fries out of a giant box carton.

Amy stared at Evan.

Something felt different about him, she thought as she looked. Did he get a haircut or something? Confusion clouded Amy's mind.

"Who's that?" Ian asked, knocking Amy out of her thoughts. Amy jumped at his voice close to her ear. Ian was watching Evan closely, hawk-eyed, and there was a distinct tone of disapproval in his voice.

"His name is Evan," Amy said, managing to find her voice. "We go to school together."

Ian's eyes narrowed. "Evan," He muttered, and Amy thought he looked kind of scary, like he was plotting a murder or something. Amy gulped. Oh my gosh! She realized. Evan is COMING OVER HERE! Amy straightened her shirt and her posture. She cleared her throat. The line for the cotton candy had stopped completely as the people at the vender's cart refilled the cotton-candy machine with crystal sugar in bright colors.

"Hi, Amy." Evan said politely, smiling.

"Hi," Amy said. This was usually the part where Amy got all nervous and fidgety, and in her stomach, butterflies started going rampant. Actually, that was usually when she just SAW him- he didn't have to actually be talking to her. But for once in her life, Amy didn't feel nervous around Evan at all. No butterflies. Maybe that's what's different, Amy thought. I feel more confident. Amy realized Ian was scowling at Evan and she winced. "This is Ian." Amy said, poking him in the arm and shooting him a look that said, "Be nice."

Evan nodded at Ian. "Hi, nice to meet you." Evan held out his hand, but Ian didn't shake it.

There was an awkward silence between the three of them.

"Uhm- You know what?" Amy said, breaking into the quiet after about 20 seconds. "I don't feel like waiting in this line anymore. I think we're going to head on over to the dog show. RIGHT, Ian?" Amy forced a smile at him. Then she turned back to Evan. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Evan nodded good-naturedly. "Sure!"

Amy dragged Ian away, to behind a games-tent, feeling embarrassed. "Why did you do that?" She demanded. "You don't know him!"

Ian snorted. "Yes, I don't know him. And I don't think I want to."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Evan is a nice guy, Ian. I don't get you. He was just trying to be polite... What exactly was your point of doing that? Was it just to bother me?" Amy asked adamantly, crossing her arms and frowning. "Are you trying to make it hard for me to hang out with you?" Amy didn't exactly know where this was coming from, but she felt like she was on a roll now and she couldn't stop. Evan was a nice guy and he didn't deserve to be dissed like that. "Tell me," Amy said, still frowning.

Ian frowned too, his hands in his pockets, and he stared at the ground. When he looked up, his eyes were intense. "Amy, do you LIKE that guy?" Ian asked. Amy swore she heard jealousy in his voice.

Great, she thought. Now I'm hallucinating.

But she froze. All of the sudden, she wasn't so sure. That she like Evan. If she'd replied to Ian automatically, the answer of course would have been yes. But now that she was thinking about it, she wasn't so sure. She felt dread filling up her insides like water. Maybe the reason for not feeling butterflies or knots in her stomach around Evan wasn't because she was more confident.

It was because she wasn't sure she liked Evan anymore. At least, not in that way...

Evan really was a great guy. Amy had liked him for a long time. Or she'd thought she did. So why didn't she feel it now? When... When Ian was there? Amy gritted her teeth in frustration. This whole week, Evan had been the farthest thing from her mind, not coming up in her thoughts once, when Amy used to actively daydream about him. Amy felt mad, mad at herself, because she thought she knew the reason why.

She didn't like Evan anymore. In fact, she wasn't sure she'd ever liked him all that much. Instead, she was falling for someone else.

But Amy didn't WANT to like Ian. It was too... Hard. Sure, she knew now that he was different. That he'd really, really changed. But God knew that didn't actually make them compatible. Liking Ian, she thought, would be dangerous- like falling in quicksand. She'd just get stuck deeper and deeper. But all the things Amy had ever felt around Evan felt magnified times a thousand around Ian. She got chills whenever he looked at her, and instead of butterflies in her stomach, it was more like stampeding elephants.

And she wasn't even about to get started on whenever they touched.

Fine, Amy thought fiercely. Maybe I don't like Evan. But I don't like Ian, either. I can't. And I'm not going to fall for him. He's changed, but I'm not going to go down that road again. I promised myself I wouldn't... Amy sighed.

"No," she said dully, in response to Ian's question after thinking about it for a moment. "No, I don't like Evan."

_A/N_

_I suppose the fair was a bit more of a carnival; but the Attleboro FAIR sounded so much catchier than the Attleboro carnival! xD Yeah so anyways... xD I hope this chapter was alright._

_Remember, I appreciate reviews. I love getting feedback and if I could, I would bake all of you cookies :') Thanks so much._

_1) What was the most exciting thing you've done so far this week? (I went to a concert! :D And today was my friend's birthday. Those are the two main reasons I didn't update- Busy busy. Sorry about that. But, you know. Life calls. And it was my friend's BIRTHDAY. xD)_

_2) What is your middle name? (You don't have to answer this if it's too private xD If it helps, mine is Catherine. Lol)_

_3) What was the last thing you ate?_

_4) If you had one wish, what would you wish for?_

_~Lovely_


	26. A Stuffed Goat Named Ian?

_A/N_

_Hey people hey people hey people HEY_

_xD_

_How is everyone?_

_I myself am not so good- well there's good and bad. Haha. Good news is that I'm in a play, and I'm really excited about it because it's going to be a lot of fun. A lot of work, too, because I'll be a bit busier. The bad news is that right now, I'm totally sick. I have the worst sore throat, like, EVER -_-_

_BUT since I'm sick, I got to spent some time literally just sitting in my bed, writing this chapter. I really hope you enjoy it, and I'm sorry for the wait- like I said, I'm officially more busy since I am in a play. AND for the first time with this story, I was actually getting a BIT of writer's block... I dunno._

_600 REVIEWS. THAT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME. _**T.H.A.N.K.Y.O.U.**_S.O.M.U.C.H. I almost died. Like. Heart. Attacks._

_Thanks to _**The Gone Angel**_ for helping me name the goat xD_

_Disclaimer: Oh lord this chapter is SO long. Gawsh. I hope you don't mind... PS I NO OWN 39 CLUES MKAY_

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: A Stuffed Goat Named Ian?

**~Ian~**

So she didn't like the thick-glasses guy. Or she said she didn't.

Ian scowled, completely in a bad mood now after seeing that stupid Evan guy, even though Amy insisted she didn't like him. HE'D obviously liked HER. He'd been all over her. He was desperate, some nerd who didn't deserve Amy...

When Amy had said she didn't like Evan, Ian had at first been relieved. That was good news. GREAT news. And he'd said so out loud. "Good." He'd said. But his mood had already been ruined, and he got himself around to thinking as the day progressed- what if Amy was lying, and she really did like Evan? She'd been very protective of him, it seemed.

Ian felt like dragging his feet and crossing his arms like a little kid. He wanted to know if Amy liked someone. If she liked that nerdy guy.

Ugh, that was too infuriating to think about. Of all the people in the world... The guy he suspected she liked was some geek who looked like he'd been born and raised in a computer lab?

As the day wore on, there seemed to be more and more of a rift between Ian and Amy. Amy was a little miffed after the Evan incident. But she was better at getting over bridges, and had quickly begun her attempts to get back to having a good time with her designated partner-for-the-week. She was extending a hand peacefully, and even with a smile, but Ian didn't know how to grab on to her hand.

There were parts of him that wanted to, yes. Actually, most of him wanted to- to connect with Amy. He sometimes did. And in those rare moments, he felt like... A better person. But he couldn't find it in him right now. Not if Amy... Liked some guy. He just... Couldn't.

"There are fireworks tonight." Amy said, attempting to sound cheerful even though Ian kept shooting her down. "We had fireworks at the house on the second day- so I understand if you don't want to stay. If you want to do something different tonight. But I love fireworks- I'd watch them every night if I could."

Amy was kind of babbling. The conversation was so one-sided that Amy might as well have been talking to a statue. Ian sighed. At this point, he didn't even care what they did. Since Amy had pulled him behind that tent and demanded to know why he'd been rude to her true love Evan, they'd just been wandering around, looking at everything there was to see.

They'd walked through to petting zoo- Good God, Ian hadn't touched any of those beasts, though Amy had spent a good 5 minutes petting a rabbit- and they'd watched the end of the dog show. (In Ian's opinion, the dog that won wasn't even that good looking. He had suspicions that it wasn't a purebred.) All over the place Amy suggested they do this-or-that kind of game, but he didn't want to.

"What time are these fireworks?" Ian asked, boredly un-invested in what she was saying.

Amy frowned. "7." There was a long pause, and then she said, "Ian, did I do something wrong?"

This surprised him. No, he thought. It's definitely not you- it's me. Or Evan. "No." He said aloud. Amy's frown only deepened- she wasn't reassured by his answer. She looks upset, he thought. She crossed her arms and said nothing. Ian thought of when Amy was on the phone with that Holt. She'd said something like... If you love someone, let them go. That was bogus to Ian- If you love someone, HOW can you let them go?

He wasn't sure if he... Loved her. But he'd never let her go, whether he deserved her or not.

"Well, why can't we just..." Amy didn't finish her sentence. He didn't know what she was trying to say. She looked like she didn't know, either. She started over, shaking her head. "Ian, we've got the second half of today left. And then just two more days after that. I know you probably don't want to spend any more time with Boring Amy, but please, after this week we can- can you just-j-just..." She still couldn't finish. She wasn't making sense. She looked in anguish, searching for words to express her meaning.

Ian sighed, his resolve crumbling when he saw her wide green eyes. I'm pathetic, he thought sourly. "It's not that I don't want to be with you." He paused, generously letting that sink in. "I just..." He paused, then blurted, "Are you absolutely certain that you don't like that Evan guy?" And he heavily accented the word 'like'.

Amy's wide eyes grew wider at this outburst. "Of course I'm sure, Ian." But her eyes looked like the definition of 'confused'. She walked two feet away, because there was a bench there; and she sat down on it. Ian followed her and sat down, too. Amy looked up at him. "I told you, Evan is a nice guy. But I don't like him that way." She said, and she almost sounded disappointed.

At that moment in time, Evan Tolliver chose to walk up.

Ian's lips curled downwards in an obvious frown. Before a word could come out of his mouth, Amy rested a hand on his shoulder, surprising him. "I'll deal with him, okay?" She said quietly. Reluctantly, Ian nodded and sat back on the bench, crossing his arms. He watched closely. "Hi Evan," Amy said when he reached where they sat on the bench.

"Hi Amy." He nodded reluctantly at Ian, to which Ian had no response. Evan looked away. "So, Amy. You said I'd 'see you later'." He was still smiling. Why was he so happy? "It's later. I thought I'd come see you." 'I thought I'd come see you'. He was obsessed with her... "I wanted to ask you something, actually." What, was he going to propose?

"Oh, okay," Amy said. She stood up, shooting a quick glance at Ian. "Uhm, I'll be right back, Ian. Evan, let's go over there to talk." Amy grabbed his arm and dragged him a good distance away. Ian could still see them, but he couldn't hear them.

He watched intently, trying to read lips. But it was impossible, especially because other people moving around occasionally obscured his view of Amy. Ian felt frustration rising inside of him. At one point, he swore Evan and Amy were looking over at him, and at another point, a wagon with a bunch of scream-y little kids as the passengers went by, blocking the view. And when the wagon rolled out of the way, Amy and Evan were HUGGING.

She said she didn't like him! Ian though angrily. He felt like getting up and socking that Evan kid in the face.

He was gripping the seat of the bench so hard that his fingernails had left little crescent-shaped indentations. Ian hmmphed and sat back again. He was irrationally mad. And... Jealous. And he knew it.

Then Amy was making her way back, through a small sea of people- families, parents with little kids. High schoolers holding hands, or throwing french fries at each other. An elderly couple walking at the speed setting of 'turtle'.

"What was that about?" Ian demanded, the second Amy was back. She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

"Nothing," She said.

"You hugged." Ian said, his tone accusatory. Amy's smile lessened.

"Yeah." She said.

"So let me get this straight. You DON'T like that guy. You're certain you don't. And yet, you're willing to go have... Secret conversations with him and hug him?" Ian winced inwardly at the sound of jealousy in his voice which was, he thought, clear as a bell.

"Yes." Amy said stubbornly. "Maybe he's my FRIEND, Ian. Why do you even care?"

"Maybe," Ian said, leaning closer to her, "It's because I'm jealous. Did you consider that?"

There were many people around them, but it felt like there was utter silence to Ian. He was locked in a different universe than the people of the fair, a universe that consisted of only Amy and the stare he was holding with her. They were close enough that he could have pressed their foreheads together easily. He waited. He did not breath. He held her gaze and she held his.

"Jealous?" She asked quietly, not breaking the stare. "Of what?"

What does she mean, of what? Ian thought. Of EVAN. I swear, sometimes Amy is so annoyingly humble that she ends up being dense, Ian thought. As if it never crossed her mind that he could be jealous because she was talking to some other guy. But he WAS jealous. TOO jealous.

And he was dangerously close to her. Dangerously, because whenever he was so near to her his brain started thinking the most absurd things, like the most recent one he'd thought when he was near to her, just the day before- what would it be like to kiss her? And he'd always feel stupid thinking such ridiculous things, but they didn't seem stupid to him until after he was with her.

But he was wondering that same thought again.

"Ian..." Amy looked away, breaking their momentous moment of being in some other place, alone, and just like that, Ian could hear all the noises of the fair again.

He looked away, too.

Ian sighed. "I'll leave you alone about your Evan. Alright?"

Amy sighed, too. "Thank you." Amy said. "I think."

Ian attempted to smile, for her sake. "We should go play some games," He suggested, because he knew that just like that, he could turn the tables. "I feel like beating you at everything."

Amy grinned, and Ian marveled at how easily her mood could be turned sometimes. A rare smile from him prompted a much more frequent smile from her. "You can try," She said, a sparkle already in her eyes.

"You got it." Ian said, and it was kind of infectious, her smile. Maybe his smile was real after all. He stood up. "I'm going to get a drink. Meet me at the purple game tent?" He asked.

Amy nodded. She stood up and started in that direction with one last smile.

When she was gone, Ian collapsed back down onto the bench. Get yourself together, he thought to himself harshly. She said she doesn't like that guy, so you need to believe her. Ian sighed, watching Amy go. In a moment, she was swallowed up in the crowd. You know what? Ian thought to himself. And he went back to those options he'd been thinking of earlier in the week.

Those options had been A) Tell Amy that he... Liked her. b) Ignore his feelings for... Well, forever. c) Make Amy fall for him.

C was still completely ruled out. Amy would never like him. Ian mentally crossed that off. That left two options that were just as unsatisfying now as they were when he had first thought them up. He'd tried to stick with option B. He really had. But it hadn't worked. Amy made words come out of his mouth that he wasn't even aware he'd been thinking of. Sooner or later, she was going to catch on.

So that mean... option A. Tell her. Before she found out herself.

Alright, Ian thought, straightening up. All the denial he'd once felt trying to ignore his feelings were gone. And now his resolve was gone, too. No rules applied to Amy. She was different. He would tell her that he liked her.

Tonight at the fireworks show, he thought. I'll tell her. Because maybe if I do, she'll laugh at me. And maybe, it would hurt enough for him to finally convince himself that there was no way on this planet, or any other, for that matter, that he would ever, ever be liked back by Amy Cahill.

He was gearing up for a painful dose of reality.

**~Hamilton~**

"I like you too, Holt."

That's what she'd said.

He'd basically spent the rest of the night twitterpated. You know, like they say in the Bambi movie?

It was like floating on air. Or clouds. Or cotton candy. Or maple syrup. It was like... The feeling of winning a football game, only magnified times a thousand. It was like... It was like... The best feeling ever, he'd decided. He'd never felt so good- or so in disbelief. Sinead Starling LIKED him.

You know, like-like.

Sinead herself had seemed very mischievous all day. There was a glint in her eyes that he couldn't explain, along with just their usual startling intensity. Her hair was held back as it almost always was, but strands of it always slipped loose, curling around her face. Her smiles were wide and she was in an impeccably good mood. He would have felt content admiring her from afar, but up close was even better.

He was distracted by her. She kept winning all the games they played together.

She likes me, he thought.

But now Sinead was playing one of those ring toss games and Hamilton had decided to sit this one out- where the object is to get as many plastic rings as you can around lined up glass bottles. The more rings that end up on the necks of bottles, the bigger your prize. She was doing quite well, but she was trying to get the bottle in the center. There had been rumors floating around the fair that if you got the center ring, you'd win the enormous stuffed tiger behind the counter.

Sinead was on her last ring. She concentrated. She aimed. She threw the ring-

She missed.

"Darn!" Sinead howled, hyped up and distressed that she'd missed. Hamilton snickered, wondering if she was having some kind of sugar rush. She HAD had a lot of cotton candy earlier...

"You're doing it wrong," Hamilton told her, but he said it teasingly. He was in such a good mood, he felt like he owned the world.

"Wrong?" Sinead mock-huffed, playing along. Her hands reached up to tighten her ponytail, then moved to yank her sleeves down her wrists.

"Yup, that's what I said." Hamilton fished around in his pocket and found a $5 dollar bill. He slapped it down on the counter dramatically. Sinead rolled her eyes, looking certain that Hamilton couldn't get the center bottle, the toughest one of all, when she couldn't. She voiced this opinion out loud, to which he replied, "You'll see." The person manning the booth handed Hamilton 6 rings. Hamilton beckoned with his hand for Sinead to come over. "Would you like to be my lovely assistant?" He asked, holding out the rings. He congratulated himself a lot inwardly for saying that with a straight, un-red face.

Sinead's face, however, turned slightly red herself. "Shut up," She muttered, but she took all the rings but one from him, which he tossed, aiming for the middle bottle. Despite the good aim and good toss, it missed by a hair and settled onto a bottle next to the middle one. "Hah!" Sinead said. "If I can't get it, you can't." But she handed him his next ring anyway.

This continued on until Hamilton had two rings left. This time, with the toss that mean he only had one left, he got it.

A tiny crowd had gathered and were watching. They all cheered in support as the ring sailed through the air; and they went ballistic went it hit the intended target. Some guy slapped Hamilton on the back in congratulations.

Sinead rolled her eyes again, but she grinned, and she looked slightly impressed. "Nice job," She admitted, her mock-competitiveness melting away in a smile. Hamilton felt his heart race when she looked at him like that.

The crowd hadn't disappeared. Oh, Hamilton realized. They want to see if there really is a giant stuffed tiger.

"What do I win?" Hamilton asked the booth person. It was an elderly man. He grinned.

"Let me go get it for you."

The man, still grinning, walked slowly out of the tent.

"I guess whatever it is wasn't really behind the counter." Someone commented. They all waited, and after that, it was quiet with anticipation. Then the old man's hand was opening the curtain on the side of the tent, coming in. Everyone pointed and gasped, whispering, "What's the prize?"

The prize was not an enormous stuffed tiger. It was an enormous stuffed goat.

Everyone laughed when they saw it. It was good-spirited laughing, but Hamilton still felt his ears turn red as he accepted his prize from the old man. The whole laughing aspect kind of made his win less impressive... Sinead seemed to be laughing hardest of all. "A goat!" She choked out, and the small crowd howled along with her in laughter. Even the old man laughed.

"Here!" Hamilton said. He threw the goat at Sinead and he burst out laughing. "I won it for you!"

Sinead caught the goat, took one laugh at it, and began laughing again, so hard Hamilton though she was going to fall over. "No- You- Didn't-" Sinead tried.

A few stray people were still laughing and watching Sinead and Hamilton, but everyone else had walked off smiling, or was in the line to play the bottle game, inspired by Hamilton's big goat win. Maybe I've started a trend, Hamilton thought. And by tomorrow morning, everyone will be waltzing around toting a goat tucked under their arm.

"C'mon." Sinead grabbed his hand- sparks raced up his arm- and still holding the goat, she pulled him outside and sat down on a bench.

Neither of them moved their hands away.

"It's such a nice day." Sinead marveled, traces of laughter still in her voice. With the hand not in Hamilton's she carefully set the goat down on the bench beside her. Hamilton smiled at her nervously. "A name," Sinead said suddenly. "We need to name the goat."

"Hm..." Hamilton said thoughtfully, but he was really just thinking about how Sinead's hand was in his, their fingers laced together. But he was still listening.

"It has amber eyes." Sinead said, looking intently at the stuffed goat. "I think we should name it... Ian Kabra."

They both lost it.

**~Natalie~**

Natalie was amazing at faking things.

She could fake confidence. She could fake a tan. She was so good at faking that she'd once convinced her arch enemy Sherri Labotne to eat a sunflower in the fourth grade, because Natalie promised her it would taste divine.

(It hadn't, according to Sherri.)

But while she was GOOD at faking, she was starting to get worried that she shouldn't BE faking. Not in this case. Because after being locked in a closet with Dan and kind of... Uh... Cuddling with him, her walls had gone up majorly in self defense and they were so high, Natalie couldn't see the top. It was unfair, she thought. That she should like someone like Dan when he was the only boy on the planet, probably, who wouldn't like her back.

She'd thought that many times.

Dan seemed kind of fidgety. He's probably freaked out about the closet thing, Natalie thought, and she wasn't sure exactly how that thought made her feel. ...Upset, she supposed.

She and Dan were treating each other the way they had before the closet thing, and they were walking around the fair as if they were normal people. Well, mostly. Except for Dan being a little fidgety-er, and Natalie being... Well, a little more distant, then, yeah, they were acting pretty normal. Natalie didn't want to be distant, though. Actually, if she felt she could have, she would have liked to hold hands with Dan, or maybe just sit with her head against his shoulder again for a little while. And heaven forbid she actually start thinking that she'd like to kiss him.

Because the most embarrassing thing Natalie Kabra could dream up would be getting rejected by Dan Cahill.

I have a headache, Natalie thought. And then her next thought was one rare for her to have, basically extinct in her mind. Or seriously endangered. That thought was: I want sugar. "Dan, let's get ice cream." Natalie said. Dan looked at her like she was an oncoming asteroid.

"You sure?" He asked her, bewildered. Natalie rolled her eyes.

"Of course I'm sure."

They walked towards a cluster of food carts, peeking to see if any sold ice cream. It was such a hot summer day that Natalie thought it would be impossible for whomever running the fair not to sell ice cream, but she didn't see a cart for it anywhere. Suddenly Dan made a hiss-like noise and crouched down behind a french fry cart that seemed abandoned- and didn't have any french fries. "Get down," He whispered to Natalie, his gorgeous green eyes wide.

Natalie crouched down too. "What?!" She hissed at him as Dan peeked around the cart. Dan pointed.

Natalie half expected to see that git Will Goldmin, but she remembered that she'd scared him off; no, it wasn't Will or his friend. It was Amy- and Ian.

"So there's the ice cream," Dan muttered. Amy and Ian were holding brand new ice creams. Ian appeared to be paying a guy in a truck. "How did we not notice the ice cream TRUCK?" Dan wondered aloud, still ducking down. Natalie poked his arm.

"Why, exactly, if I'm allowed to ask, are we HIDING from our siblings?"

Dan didn't give a direct answer. Actually, he didn't really give her one at all. "Look at them," He said, and there was a tinge of loathing, or disgust in is voice.

Natalie looked.

Amy had a vanilla ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles- or hundreds-and-thousands, as they called them in England. It looked good. Ian had a chocolate ice cream cone with chocolate sprinkles. Amy and Ian sat down on a bench. They appeared to be talking, but Natalie and Dan weren't close enough to make out the words. Natalie watched Ian's face closely. He looked pretty happy, actually. Amy was smiling, too.

"What?" Natalie asked finally, after near a minute of this watching. "They're having ice cream. Big deal."

Dan frowned. "Look at them, all-" He wrinkled his nose, trying to think of a suitable word, and in the back of her head, Natalie thought it was kind of adorable- "-Cutesy." Dan finished.

She raised an eyebrow. "'Cutesy'?" She questioned. Dan nodded.

"I don't like that Cobra- Er, no offense to you- hanging around my sister." Dan said. He looked back again and shook his head. "Your trash bag of a brother is probably trying to woo her right now!"

"'Woo'?"

"Stop questioning my word choices!"

Natalie rolled her eyes yet again. "While I agree with you that my brother can be quite a... Trash bag, I DON'T agree with you wanting them apart." Natalie stood up, straightening her legs. She crossed her arms and looked down on him. Literally. Dan looked at her like she was crazy. (Again.) Reluctantly, he stood up, too.

"You said Ian liked her." Dan asked. He blinked. "Does he really? Because if he doesn't, I'm going to have to kill him. It's my duty, as Amy's brother."

Natalie snickered at that last part, but she fixed her composure in less than a second. She cleared her throat. "Look at the way he looks at her," Natalie said carefully, giving Dan instructions. "You can see it in his expression- in his eyes. The way he smiles." There was a long pause as they watched Amy and Ian. Then Natalie continued, quietly. "I know Ian like the back of my hand. He really is an idiot, but he's an idiot that's head over heels."

"Wow," Dan remarked. He considered this information. "I'm very on the fence about this," He shared. "Oh one hand, this is prime material to annoy them with. But on the other hand..." Dan shot another glance at Ian, and this one was harder, and accusatory. "Doesn't it bother you?" Dan asked. "That you brother likes a 'commoner', or whatever you guys consider us?"

Natalie sighed in slight exasperation. "I guess it doesn't. Like I said, my brother is an idiot, anyway."

"So it doesn't matter that he's a Kabra and she's... Amy?"

Natalie looked at Dan. He seemed genuinely puzzled, his head tipped slightly when he asked her the question. His eyes were stunning in the light of a sun growing older as the day wore on. His hair was messed up. It always was.

"No," She said finally. "It doesn't matter."

Dan nodded. "Do you think Amy likes him?" Dan asked, peeking one last time at their siblings. Natalie shrugged.

"I don't know her like I know my brother. What... What do YOU think?" Natalie said, and she suddenly felt small. "Do you think it's possible that... A Cahill could like a Kabra?" And she wasn't talking about Amy and Ian anymore. What she really meant was herself and Dan. She didn't breath while she waited on an answer from him, and the light seemed to change in a matter of seconds, turning dusky red as the sun began to go down. Dan turned his gaze from Amy and Ian to Natalie, his gaze flitting over hers.

"I think it's possible." He murmured.

_A/N_

_I think a lot of times, Ian is really irrational... So I felt like making him that way in this chapter. xD He can be immature and stubborn sometimes. In this chapter- Oh my gosh, my favorite part was Natalie's. Lol. What do you guys think?!_

_1) Which of the following would you prefer me to write: A Natan one-shot or a Hamead one-shot?_

_2) What is your favorite flavor? (As in cherry, mint, orange, chocolate...)_

_3) What was the last song you listened to?_

_4) Would you rather be a whale or a jellyfish?! _

_Thank you guys so much! I hope this chapter wasn't like wayyy too long o_O _

_~Lovely_


	27. A Lot

_A/N_

_Thanks for making this the freaking **NUMBER ONE MOST REVIEWED STORY IN THE FANDOM.**_

**NUMBER. ONE.**

_I swear I did NOT EVER think I'd get here. I- lord- THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. I cannot even express the way I feel. Thank. You. I don't know if it'll stay number one, but I don't care- the actuality that it GOT there is so much to me- so momentous. Thank you. Thank you._

_In other news- head on over the _**riatheriver**_'s profile and read her story Bye, Bye Vespers if you haven't- because it's really, really good, and I've been helping her with it a bit. She's also been quite supportive of this story, for which I am eternally grateful. Go check her out, she RULES._

_Disclaimer: I may not own the 39 Clues, but I am the eternally- and I do mean eternally- grateful writer of this story, which had hit number 1 most reviews. *bursts into tears*_

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: A Lot

**~Sinead~**

There were fireworks.

Earlier in the week, when there had been fireworks at the Cahill house, they had simply sat there and watched them. But this time, Sinead wondered if Hamilton would try to hold her hand again, like he had earlier, or kiss her or something. She knew that happened in romance movies a lot- kisses with literal fireworks happening overhead.

But this was not a movie.

Sinead sighed and drummed her fingers against her leg thoughtfully. She was waiting for Hamilton and waiting for the fireworks show to start. Hamilton had gone to get popcorn or something, leaving Sinead to wait with a hundred other people and Ian (the goat, not the person).

Sinead was getting less and less carefree as the day went on. It wasn't that she wasn't having a good time. In fact, she was having a GREAT time. It was just that... Well, she WISHED Hamilton would make more of a move.

Earlier she'd held hands with him. That was HER doing. So why couldn't Hamilton just say, "Will you go out with me?" Or something like that? Sinead knew that technically, she could ask him just as well. But she wanted it to be perfect, like in the best of the movies. She wanted HIM to ask her. Man up, Hamilton, she thought. She let out a little hmphh.

She was being silly. She sighed.

Sinead wondered if she really should make a move. What if he doesn't, she thought, and I never do- and nothing happens? What if we just kind of go back to being friends, and that's all? She shook that thought off. "I worry too much," She murmured to herself. She reminded herself rather sensibly that he had said he liked her.

That still made her feel tingly inside.

Sinead leaned against her goat; it was big enough for her to wrap her arms around it. She giggled again at the predicament that the goat toy had come from. Sinead thought of Lincoln, her real-life pet, and took a mental note to feed him when she got back to the Cahill's guesthouse. Sinead looked up. In the sky, stars were becoming bolder and bolder- and as she was looking upwards, the very first firework shot off into the sky with a sparkle and a loud, cracking boom.

Sinead spotted Ted walking carefully down the hill. He was still mostly blind- Sinead frowned when she saw him on his own, as usual, scared he might walk into someone or fall. She stood up and decided to say hi to him, wondering where Jonah was, as they were partners this week.

Growing up, Sinead and her brothers, Ned and Ted, hadn't felt so close to their parents. There were times when they felt like a family, and yes, Sinead did have some good memories from her childhood. For instance, her memories of automatic car washes. But mostly, her parents were like most Ekats- hard workers who didn't have time for things that might be distracting, which sometimes meant their own children.

So as Sinead and her brothers had grown up, there was a closeness between them that was very special to Sinead. She loved her brothers more than anyone. And they loved her, too- they were triplets and they had matching souls.

Sinead still got a tight feeling in her chest when she thought of how Ted was mostly blind, or how Ned was still occasionally quite impaired from is headaches.

Crossing the way, Sinead easily looped her arm through her brother's. She didn't need to clarify who she was- he just knew.

"Hi, Sinead." Ted said. He smiled even though his sightless eyes could not see her. "How is your week going?" He frowned slightly. "I've hardly gotten a chance to talk to you at all."

Sinead giggled. "My week has been going fine enough, thank you." She poked her brother in the ribs. "Where's Jonah?" She asked. She crossed the grassy hill again to where her goat sat waiting. She carefully brought Ted along with her, and she raised her voice because of the loudness of the fireworks. She sat down and Ted followed suit. "And where's Ned?" She added, hoping maybe Ned would also join them. It wasn't usual that Sinead went a day without seeing her brothers, let alone most of a week.

"Jonah went home- he said he had to have some chill-axing time." Ted said. "And I have no idea where Ned is- Madison's probably forcing him to do push ups." He sighed, then added, "I like fireworks- I can see them surprisingly well."

Sinead laughed. "Chill-axing? You've been spending way too much time with Jonah." Sinead's eyes moved to the sky and she sat quietly for a bit, enjoying the display, even though it wasn't as impressive as the one earlier in the week, at the Cahill house, had been. She rested her head on Ted's shoulder, sighing. Ted looped an arm around her.

Sinead wondered where Hamilton was. A small part of her wished that she was sitting like this with him, and not her brother, no matter how much she loved him. Thinking that made her face burn, and she attempted to go back to just enjoying being with someone who knew her better than she knew herself.

But once she'd thought of Hamilton, she really DID wonder where he had gone... She glanced around, but even when the brightest fireworks were lighting up the sky, it was hard to see.

Sinead wondered what Ted and Ned would think of her... Well, liking Hamilton. She wondered if it would bother them. An uncomfortable feeling crawled up her arms, beneath her long sleeves, and she imagined the chilling feeling to settle across the scars hidden beneath the fabric of her shirt. She and Ned and Ted didn't talk much about their accident, but the Holt's had caused it- and she knew that before this week, she herself had definitely held a grudge.

Nothing felt final with Hamilton- but Sinead knew that she liked him a lot. He wasn't who she used to think he was. And the accident during the clue hunt... That was the past. She couldn't change it, so she was doing the best she could to move on.

"Hey Ted?" Sinead said slowly.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"What do you think of the Holts?"

For a moment, Ted said nothing. His face was expressionless, too, illuminated by the fireworks overhead. When he spoke, his voice was careful and calculated. "They're okay." He said.

Sinead felt frustrated. For once, she couldn't imagine what her brother could be thinking. Would he be terribly angry at her because she liked Hamilton? Would he think it was stupid? "But what do you THINK of them?" She urged.

Again, Ted took his time coming up with an answer, and Sinead waited more or less patiently. Both of her brothers thought like that. "They're not bad people," Ted said finally. "The past can be hard to forget, but I think they've made it evident that they're sorry. Hamilton, in particular."

Sinead felt relief sweep through her, and her cheeks turn warm when he mentioned Hamilton. "Why do you say that?" Sinead asked.

A slow smile spread across Ted's features. He scoffed slightly. "You know that, Sinead. Everyone does. He's been head over heels for you since... Well, I don't know when, but it's been a while. Whether Hamilton knows it or not, he's got it bad for you."

"Ted!" Sinead shrieked, embarrassed. She attracted a few stares from people spread out around them. Sinead ducked her head. She shivered and tingles spread through her. "Head over heels..." She muttered.

Ted just smiled. Sinead got the feeling that he knew what she was really trying to say, and their conversation ended.

A minute later, Hamilton returned, carrying what might have been the biggest tub of popcorn Sinead had ever seen. "Hi, Sinead. Hi, Ted." Hamilton greeted cheerily. He sat down. "The popcorn line was surprisingly long." Hamilton shared. Sinead nodded, turning her gaze back up to the sky. But she watched him closely from the corners of her sight.

Disappointingly, the whole display, Hamilton made no move to try and get closer to her.

Maybe it was because she was already sitting close to Ted. And there was kind of a giant goat between her and Hamilton, too.

**~Dan~**

Dan was contemplating telling Natalie that he liked her.

It was hard. Really. It was. Starting with the fact that the word 'contemplate' was hardly even in Dan's vocabulary, because he didn't like heavy thinking. But... As crazy as it was, the idea was starting to make sense. In a totally crazy way.

Dan watched Natalie as she watched the fireworks. Her face was the ultimate picture of calm beauty, and she just looked... Happy. She didn't always- but at that moment she did. She looked more and more like the Natalie- or Nat, as Dan called her in his head- who was on the inside and not the Natalie that was just putting on a show.

Her dark eyes reflected the light of the fireworks, as did her dangling earrings. Her lips curved upwards ever so slightly in a smile, and her whole head was tipped back and she leaned on her hands, as to get the best view she could. She was enjoying watching the fireworks. Dan probably would have, too, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

He WAS enjoying looking at her, though.

I'm crazy, he thought, which he'd thought a million times this week as a result of pretty much just being around Natalie. He tried to look away. He could not; he was a moth and she was a flame.

And I bet Natalie thinks moths are gross, Dan thought dully.

Dan shifted slightly and felt the clinking sound of moving metal chains inside his pocket. It was the locket- the locket that had belonged to his mother, Hope. Dan always had it on him now. He liked it, and he liked the sound it made when it moved. It was now Dan's favorite possession er, one of them. It was hard to chose one out of so many great relics and things he's started to collect again after the Clue hunt.

The point was, he loved it. It reminded him greatly of Hope. And Arthur, too. And even though that made him deeply sad in some ways, it made him joyous in other ways. And Dan wouldn't have parted with that Locket for the world.

Dan absently reached a hand into his pocket, his fingers rubbing across the smooth surface of the metal while he thought.

Tell Natalie I like her, he thought, pondering it yet again. Tell her...

It SOUNDED so simple- and yet he knew that if he tried to, it'd be hard. And he wondered what he'd gain by doing so. Nothing good, he thought sadly, fingers still tracing designs on the locket and its chain. If I tell Natalie I like her, he thought, she'll probably think I'm crazy. And she'll tell everyone, too.

So why did he still find himself wanting to tell her? More and more, actually, with every passing second?

Dan tried to remember to take blinking breaks between his staring.

Maybe... Maybe he wanted to tell her because he DIDN'T actually think she'd do that stuff. Tell everyone that he liked her, or think that he was crazy. He and Natalie... Well, they'd had their moments this week. And that included the closet thing. They were closer, even though they weren't nearly as close as Dan would have liked. Natalie was a real person with real feelings, too, and even though Dan severely doubted that she'd EVER like him back, he thought that she might actually be kind of... Nice about it.

He wanted her to know. She deserved to have people telling her how great she was...

Dan grimaced and caught himself. Alright, he thought. No more Mr. Mushy guy. He decided then and there that if he felt like he needed to tell her, he would. When he felt the time was right.

Natalie finally caught on to his staring. Her head swung sharply to face him and she raised a perfect eyebrow at him. "What?" She asked, her voice clipped. Dan shrugged, feeling a sting of embarrassment at being caught.

"It's nothing," He assured her.

**~Amy~**

She was back again to enjoying herself.

Amy sat with Ian, watching the fireworks. As usual, whenever there was something on her mind, darker thoughts hovered closely, making Amy worry. But at the same time, she didn't want, in that moment, to be worried- she just wanted to be enchanted by the fireworks. She didn't want to think of Evan, and what he'd said when he'd pulled her away to talk to her. She didn't want to think of Ian, who was there with her, only a foot away...

Amy wondered about him anyway.

What's he thinking? She thought. His mood had changed all day- at first, a good mood. And then that was spoiled when Evan came along. As if he was... Jealous. Like, actually. He'd SAID he was jealous. It confused her. Anyway. His mood had changed again when he'd promised to stop bothering her about Evan, which she actually really, really appreciated.

But... Evan.

Amy was sure now- certain- that she didn't feel what she used to for him. Which was so disappointing, because he'd finally asked her out.

That's what he had come to talk to her about.

First he had sort of implied that he though Ian was her boyfriend. When he said that, her cheeks turned pink and she shook her head vigorously; Ian was NOT her boyfriend, and he never would be, she said. That had made him grin. He'd said something along the lines, then, of, So you're not seeing anyone?

He went on- painfully, to Amy- to explain that he had liked her for a while now. There was a shyness in his voice that was adorable- but not the way it used to be. Instead, his words made her feel nervous and sick. He went on.

He asked her on a date.

"Evan..." Amy had hesitated, then looked him squarely in the eye. "I don't think I can take you up on that offer. I'm sorry, I really am... B-but- I'm not looking for a relationship right now." It sounded so stupid, and Amy was left to watch Evan's smile melt off of his face. It was replaced by disappointment.

"Right." Evan had said after a moment, speaking to the ground. When he looked up, he smiled sadly. "I missed my chance, didn't I?" Evan said. His gaze flitted over to where Ian sat waiting. Amy felt dread in her stomach. But before she could say anything, Evan stepped up and gave her a hug.

It was a short hug, and it felt nice, but not... In the way that she wanted it to. "Evan..." She mumbled. He pulled away, still smiling kind of sadly.

"I'm really, really glad you were honest with me, Amy." He laughed. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

And just like that, he'd disappeared.

Amy had walked back to Ian, confused. But with every step she took, she found she felt lighter, as if she'd gotten rid of some baggage. She felt lighter. It didn't hurt so much to let Evan go- because he'd said he'd be fine. And she really did think he would be. Fine, of course. He'd be just fine.

Now, sitting there with Ian... Amy felt a rushed, mixed sensation pulling her stomach. Ian was...

"Hey, Amy?"

Amy realized that Ian was speaking to her. She felt a chill in her bones when she looked at him; he looked exactly as he had before he'd complimented her that night at her lookout point. He'd said the exact same thing, too.

"Yes, Ian?" She responded, just as carefully as she had then.

He looked so concentrated, so intense. His eyes were startlingly amber and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, as if to show how deeply in thought he was. The way he looked at her, she felt very much like she was an open book- like he knew what she was thinking, could see her thoughts. It made her feel so nervous.

He looked perfectly handsome, too, like he always did.

"I have to tell you something." Ian said, finally moving his lips to speak again. Amy felt like she'd swallowed cold stones, and they were finally just hitting the bottom of her stomach.

"Y-yes?" She squeaked.

Ian smiled suavely, his signature smile that made Amy feel frozen. But as she watched- frozen- his smile sort of changed and turned into one much less confident, but much more honest. And real.

Ian leaned in close to her, his breath tickling her ear, and he whispered her name, and then 3 words she'd never expect to hear from him; "Amy... I like you." Then he laughed, and added, still close to her, "A lot."

_A/N_

_Yet again- Thank you for helping this story climb to the top. I am like screaming from happiness._

_Tank you also for your concerns that I'm sick! xD I'm MUCH better today, but actually, as I sit here, my ears are starting to ache. This has happened to me many times- a common-cold/earache combo. It's terrible. Whatever. I'll be fine. xD_

_Thanks everyone!_

_1) *wags fingers* Have you been reading London? If you haven't, I'd LOVE you if you went and did that- and especially if you reviewed. The declining review stats for that makes me kinda nervous... (I'm happy with the number of reviews it has- I appreciate all reviews- but as often happens, it's been getting less and less reviews with each new chapter :/)_

_2) So... Did you like this chapter... A lot? *cheesy grin* No but seriously, how was it? :)_

_3) Do you sing in the shower?! (I do! xD)_

_4) How do you think your friends would describe your personality? _

_Ciao, mates. It's been jolly good fun._

_~Lovely_


	28. The Summer Valentine

_A/N_

_Hola everyone! I'd like it if you _**read this. **

_As usual, thank you to all reviewers. Yall are fabulous. But to a few of you... Be a bit less blunt, mates, alright? xD I like constructive criticism, but the best way for you to do that is put it in a nice way. Just keep that in mind, please. Maybe you have high expectations for this story... I don't know. But I am a person, and I'm writing because I love to write and I love to share what I write WITH you. There's no way for my writing to be perfect, but I'm trying to get as close as I can, with your (positive) help. Thanks._

_Also, _**CONTEST**_ at the bottom A/N._

_Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues. But I do own brownies, because I baked some the other day :D They're REALLY good. Want one? OH WAIT YOU CAN'T HAVE ONE HAHA (Now you know how it feels to want something you can't have! D:)_

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: The Summer Valentine

**~Ian~**

He'd told her.

She knew.

It was off his chest and she knew about it and he'd TOLD her. She KNEW. Ian let out a slow breath. Really, saying it hadn't been as hard as he'd thought it would be.

What was hard was seeing Amy's reaction.

He would've liked to not even look at her, slight cowardice in him begging him to look anyplace but actually at her. And yet he couldn't take his eyes off of her, either- he needed to see her reaction. He was steady, and so was his gaze.

By that point, he'd pulled away from her, his own words ringing in his ears.

She had wide eyes, but she was silent. Overhead, the fireworks show gave off the finale- people around Ian and Amy cheered, and Ian felt annoyance rising in him. Perfect timing.

Seconds passed and the finale went on and finished. The whole time, Ian was looking at Amy, and not at the sky. Amy was looking at Ian. At one point, she tried to say something, but he couldn't hear her over the sounds of the fireworks and of the people cheering, happy people who had no clue that Amy and Ian, two of many teenagers on the hill, were having a bit of a... Conundrum.

Finally the show was over. People moved to pick up their things, laughing and talking and walking back to their cars or to their houses. Ian's breath caught in his throat. He hadn't felt so horribly nervous in quite some time.

"I suppose I didn't have the best timing for that," He said, slightly miffed. He sighed and stood up. Amy scrambled to follow him, and he simply began up the hill, like everyone else.

"Ian..." Amy started, stopping him in his tracks. His gaze fairly snapped towards her, he was so anxious to know what she thought.

"Yes?" He said. It was barely more than a whisper.

"You really... You really l-like me?" She asked. But he could tell that even as she said that, it was sinking in, knowing a midst the nervousness in her green eyes.

Ian scoffed. "Of course I do." He said. That prompted a little wince from him, but he went on anyway. "I'd say it's fairly obvious." This was why liking Amy was hard- because it wasn't as if she'd like him back. There would be no sweeping her off of her feet or anything absurd like that. He'd told her just to tell her, and so that she wouldn't have to find out for herself. Instead of being romantic, he was just feeling bitter.

With that, he resumed walking up the hill.

"Ian, wait." Amy stopped him again, and surprisingly, this time, she'd grabbed his hand. When he turned to look at her, she looked surprisingly confident. Or not exactly confident- just that she knew what she wanted to say and that she was going to say it. She dropped his hand. He wished she hadn't. "I've been thinking about it." She mumbled. She looked up at him. "You really like me?" She squeaked, as if she needed one last confirmation before she said whatever she was going to say.

Ian grabbed her hand, feeling on edge. He felt sparks race up his spine as their hands connected. "Yes."

Amy stared down at their hands, now entwined, and he hardly dared to breath. A moment passed. What? Ian thought, fit to burst. But a second after he thought that, her face flooded lightly pink and she gave him her response.

"I l-like you, too."

**~Hamilton~**

Ted was finally gone.

Hamilton felt nervous, edgy, kind of. It wasn't that he'd minded Ted so much... It was just more that he hadn't wanted Ted to be there at that particular time.

"Ted's going to go home with Nellie," Sinead was saying. "Since Jonah stranded him here."

All the way up the hill Sinead was talking, but Hamilton was only half listening, trying to decide the best way to say what he was thinking. He was going to ask Sinead to the end-of-the-week dance.

He could still hardly believe that she liked him back. It was like a dream, or something. It hardly fit. He was a common, jelly-filled doughnut and she was that last pink sprinkle doughnut. He was a stray dog, and she was a palace cat. He was a garbage collector and she was a research zoologist. He was a stale cracker and she was an Oreo.

I need to cut the analogies, Hamilton thought. They aren't making any sense.

"Hamilton, are you even listening?" Sinead asked suddenly, cutting into his thoughts with a sigh.

"Oh!" He said, realizing she'd still been talking. "Er, yes." He lied. Sinead eyed him closely, but all she did was sigh again.

As they walked back to Hamilton's dad's van- still on loan for the week- Hamilton winced, trying to think of the best way to ask her. Just ASK, she likes you, he reminded himself. She'll say yes. Right?

I'll do it in the car, he thought.

They reached the car and Hamilton unlocked it and threw Sinead's goat- which he'd been carrying for her- into the van. Sinead glared at Hamilton, and he felt his mouth dry up. "What?" He asked.

"You can't just throw Ian around like that!" Sinead snapped.

Two full seconds passed before he realized what she meant.

They both burst out laughing yet again.

As Hamilton laughed, he marveled a thousandth time at what a great person Sinead was. She was smart, and nice, and pretty, and hilarious. I don't think I deserve someone like that, he thought, and with that thought, his laughter died. In that moment, he made himself a promise: he would NOT mess anything up with Sinead. He would treat her just the way she deserved to be treated. If she liked someone like him... Well, he'd do his best.

They climbed into the van, and this time, there was no goat between their seats. There was slight traffic as a million cars tried to get out of the parking around the fair, trying to get home as it got later and later with every passing second.

The car slowed to a stop behind six others. Now, Hamilton thought, his hands nervously sweaty against the steering wheel. Ask her now.

"Sinead?"

"Yeah?" Sinead muttered. She looked really tired, but she snapped to attention once she fully realized she was being addressed. She looked at Hamilton hopefully. Oh God, he thought. She's been waiting for me to ask her! I'm an idiot!

Hamilton didn't know anyone besides Sinead that looked pretty under street and traffic lights.

"About that dance thing. At the end of the week." Hamilton said slowly, making sure he didn't mess up the words he'd been planning so dutifully to say. "I was wondering... Do you want to maybe... Go with me?"

When driving, one should always keep their eyes on the road. But Hamilton had no excuse not to look at her, seeing as the cars in front of him hadn't moved an inch. Hamilton flinched slightly as he forced himself to look at her. He smiled and hoped it looked real. Sinead was stock-still for a moment; then she gave off an effervescent smile.

"I thought you'd never ask." She said cheerily. Hamilton laughed shakily. Sinead yawned. She reached over behind her seat and grabbed her goat. She squished it between her and the door, making it fit. Then she rested her head on it and closed her eyes. "Wake me up when we get home." She mumbled.

"Right," Hamilton said, slightly dazed. "Will do."

He finally plucked up the courage to hold her hand a moment before she fell asleep.

**~Natalie~**

Natalie wondered if Dan was feeling okay.

I knew he shouldn't have eaten all of those hot dogs, she thought, rolling her eyes. And as if it wasn't bad enough that Dan seemed to be acting weird, they had to WALK home, too. All cabs were busy. It made sense, even though they'd taken a cab to get there- one could go to the fair at any time, since it went all day, but everyone left at once when it ended.

Natalie finally just ASKED Dan if he was alright. "Are you okay?" She asked, slightly irritated. She was just worried about scuffing up her shoes.

"What?" Dan muttered distractedly. "Oh- yeah! I'm fine. Just thinking, I guess."

Natalie raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Since when does the great Dan Cahill ever think?"

"Hey!" Dan said, crossing his arms. "I happen to do a lot of thinking, thank you very much. Well, kind of." He paused, then a grin accompanied his words. "You think I'm great?" Natalie couldn't help but giggle a little. She was used to Dan's jokes now. They were more bearable as she got to know him better.

"Maybe not great." She tapped her lips in mock thoughtfulness "Maybe more like... Good."

Dan still grinned. "I'll take it," He said.

They continued to walk, in silence now. Stars twinkled lightly overhead in the sky, and Natalie suddenly felt wistful, wishing she could see them better. Then she caught herself. I'm turning into a nature appreciator, she thought with a shudder. Next I'm going to want to buy hiking boots! The thought was so horrible that she decided to strike up conversation again. "So," She said, drawing the word out, "What are you thinking about?"

Dan stopped walking quite abruptly, and he turned to face her. HE was obviously not thinking of hiking boots. "You." He said, dead-seriousness etched into his expression. Natalie stopped, too.

"No, really." Natalie said.

"You," Dan repeated.

Natalie frowned slightly, unsure what that meant. Dan was looking at her with surprising intensity (she hadn't known he was capable of that. After all, 'Dan' and 'intensity' just don't seem to go together) and it made her feel uncomfortable. Dare she think it... Self conscious. "What?" She said, irritation slipping back into her voice. But this time, it was because she was nervous. "Why do you keep STARING at me today? Are you trying to do mind control? Because that's not how it works!" Natalie crossed her arms.

"What? Mind control?" Dan frowned, his gaze losing the intensity. "Wait- that's an actual thing?!"

"Dan."

"Right- sorry." Dan paused. He walked under a street lamp and then beckoned for her to follow. She did so grudgingly, shivering. It was cold at night.

"Why were you thinking about ME?" Natalie asked. "I'd expect the thoughts of Dan Cahill to be filled with... I don't know, bacon."

"Normally, yes, my thoughts are filled with bacon," Dan said, rather impatiently. "Or whatever you just said. But this is a special case." He leaned forward, like he was telling her a secret. "It's serious."

Natalie's eyes widened, wondering what Dan had up his sleeve. She shied away from him. "Yes? Get on with it, then!"

Dan's hands went into his pockets and he leaned back. For a moment, he said nothing, seemingly collecting his thoughts. "You know how in the 3rd grade, everybody HAD to give Valentine's cards to each other?" Dan asked. "To the whole class? How it wasn't an option- they HAD to?" The questions seemed so out of the blue. Natalie frowned, not following. But she answered him anyway.

"Yes, I guess so."

"Well, when you get to 6th grade and above, they don't make you do that anymore." Dan said slowly. "You don't give cards to the whole class. You only give cards... To people you really like."

There seemed to be some kind of meaning, but Natalie wasn't following. She had no idea where he was going with this. "Yes?" She said.

"I haven't given a valentine to anyone since 5th grade, the last year my school made me." Dan said. He laughed. "And to be honest, I didn't even do the whole class that year." He rummaged around in his pocket, and he seemed to find what he was looking for, though he didn't take it out yet. Natalie stared, wondering again if Dan was feeling alright. In spite of that thought, his eyes looked beautiful, and when she looked into them, she could feel her heart doing flips in her chest.

"Yes?" Natalie said again, waiting.

"In case you're not catching on... I didn't ever give out any more valentines because I never liked anyone. There was never anyone worth liking, I guess," Dan added. "All the girls at school... They're ridiculous. They're not as smart as you." As me? Natalie thought. Dan moved closer, a crooked smile on his face. "They're not as COOL as you."

Dan pulled out what he'd been holding in his pocket, and he handed it to her. It was one of those valentines they'd been talking about- the kind you get when you're 9. It had a sticker on the corner that said 4 for a dollar. It was pink, with a heart on it, and the simple words, "Be Mine!". Natalie hadn't even seen one since she herself was that age. (She'd gotten a ton of valentines since then, just not little-kiddy ones.)

Another moment of silence passed. "I like you, Natalie." Dan said finally, breaking the quiet.

He LIKES me. Natalie thought, taking that comment in slowly. If her heart had been flipping before, what was it doing now? Bursting?

Wow, that was a terrifying thought.

"Dan..." Natalie frowned at the valentine. "Where did you even get this?" She couldn't think of a moment when he'd slipped away to get it or anything, and it was also summertime. Where had it come from?

Dan smiled at her good-naturedly and answered her question. "I found it on the ground at the fair."

There was a slight pause as this registered. Then: "Dan!" Natalie yelled. But she burst out laughing. She couldn't NOT laugh. It was too LIKE him to do something like that. It was absolutely ridiculous. HE was ridiculous.

"The point is," Dan said, smiling, and Natalie realized it was kind of a nervous smile, "I like you."

_A/N_

_I hope you liked that! Sorry if Ian and Hamilton's POVs were short. I just didn't feel that they needed to be as long this time around._

_So- here's a sort of a_** contest.**_ If you don't want to enter, that's absolutely fine. It's just for fun, after all ;)_

_SO: I was thinking. I always ask all of you four questions- but I rarely answer them myself. So if you've ever wondered anything about me and wanted to ask, well, here's your chance to! xD_

_To enter the contest, you may ask me _**TWO**_ questions- you can only win with one of them, and I'll choose 4 different winners, but you can have two chances, if you like :) So go ahead- you can ask me ANY kind of random question. Let your creativity fly! If I choose one of your questions, I'll answer it!_

_Send those questions in! xD_

_Thanks for reading!_

_:)_

_~Lovely_


	29. The Side Effects of 'Love'

_A/N_

_-THANKS to every person who sent in a question (or two!) I wasn't sure if anyone actually would care enough to ask me anything xD So thanks a lot lol. I kind of wanted to answer them all xD BUT I said 4, so... **2** OF THE QUESTIONS WITH THEIR ANSWERS ARE IN THE BOTTOM A/N, BECAUSE THEY GOT LONG._

_**Q:** Where did you get your inspiration for this story? (Asked by ashleybett. Note- A LOT of people asked me this, which is why I decided to answer it. I've listed ashleybett since she was the first to ask- but credit to everyone who asked me this question or a variation of it.) **A:** My inspiration for writing this (or writing anything, really,) comes from a lot of different places I think. A lot of times, I consider myself very un-inspired- but once I sit down to actually write, and I make myself start, words just start pouring out and I get a million more ideas than I can actually even use. It's a matter of taking that first step- of sitting down and saying, "Okay. What can I write today?" Actual inspiration for what makes me want to write is that I'd like to be an author. I want to write things that make people really feel, and can feel connected to. I've been influenced by authors I like that have made me feel stuff while I was reading their works. So the dream is to be like them- to become an author that is influential and inspiring. And I strongly believe that you get a better writer with practice-practice-practice, so... FanFiction! xD_

_**Q:** Have you ever dyed your hair a weird color, or gotten an awful haircut? (Asked by A Penicl in her hand) **A:** When I was like, 11, I requested that my mother cut my hair so that it was slightly shorter in the front than in the back. It turned out okay, but it was overall much shorter than I had wanted it to be. I cried. xD xD But I got used to it right away and it looked fine. That doesn't really qualify I guess. So not really a bad haircut. I have died my hair before- I loved it. I did the ends bright- and I mean bright- red. I did that a few times, and then I've also done the ends purple a few times. Gonna renew that soon, actually :D_

_Disclaimer: "I do not own the 39 Clues," I whisper, biting my nails in suspense of my own writing. *Sarcasm, people, sarcasm*_

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: The Side Effects of 'Love'

**~Amy~**

Amy stared at the ceiling of her bedroom, not working up the will to move out of her comfy bed just yet.

She was confused for a moment as she blinked off the effects of sleep that she was still having, even after 5 minutes of being awake. Her thoughts felt fuzzy and unclear; she felt calm, but like she was forgetting something. Something important. Her green eyes narrowed, and she felt a tugging sensation inside of her stomach as she tried to remember whatever she could be forgetting.

She made herself a promise that she wouldn't fall asleep again, and she closed her eyes in thought, trying to grab a hold on reality and separate it from dreams.

Today, she thought hazily, is day 6. Tomorrow makes 7, and then the week is over...

Amy hummed a little tune to herself, forcing her eyes open again. Right, Amy, she thought. If you can't stay awake, then you've got to get out of bed. Why am I so tired, though? She took a moment to remember where she'd been last night. Oh, right, the fair! She must have been a bit tired from the late night out...

Suddenly, Amy's eyes popped open widely, and she sat straight up in her bed, remembering all at once what she'd forgotten with a little gasp.

Ian had confessed that he liked her.

And I said I liked him back, Amy thought, her face flooding with color. She winced and flopped back down, resuming her ceiling-staring position with wide eyes and her cinnamon hair splayed around her pillow. Amy breathed out slowly, trying to relax the nerves that felt like they were crushing her.

It's alright, she thought to herself, but she didn't really feel alright. It didn't matter that Ian had changed- telling him she liked him, which she'd come to the realization of pretty much only seconds before he'd told her that he liked her, was still putting a weapon in his hands, as far as she was concerned.

Amy often over thought things. So much so that when Dan had been going through one of his latest periodical ninja obsessions, he'd nicknamed himself Dan the Warrior, and her Amy the Worrier.

Amy sighed, rolling onto her side and hugging her pillow. As she did this, she became at war with herself. Because yes, she was worried, but there might have been a teeny, tiny bit of her that wanted to throw open her window and scream out to the world, "Ian LIKES ME!"

Just a small part of her.

No matter how 'small' those thoughts may have been, though, they won over. Amy shivered, thinking of how close Ian had been when he'd told her that. She was glad she wasn't standing, because that was kind of one of those weak-in-the-knees deals. (One of the many reasons why she regretted telling him she liked him.)

And there's my window, she thought, which he saved me from falling out of.

He'd also saved her when they were trying to escape out the air vent- he'd caught her. Amy's hand moved to her forehead, where the grate had hit her (the initial cause of that fall). The small gash was already mostly healed. She knew that because the day before she'd changed the bandage on it and had assessed it.

The bandage that Ian had put on her, patching her up after he caught her.

Amy squeezed the pillow tighter against her, feelings blooming at her core. The night before, er, the DAY before- she'd just been so confused. Deciding that she didn't like Evan had felt like it should be a big deal. But it just wasn't. The big deal had been admitting to herself that she liked Ian.

She could still hardly believe she'd forced that confession out of her mouth. I suppose it helps, Amy thought, her face burning, that he said it first.

After that moment, when the words had slipped out of her mouth, they had just stood there for about a minute. Everyone leaving left in that 60 seconds- and then it was just them, left to stand there on the hill.

She'd had jelly legs and she was tired and she had almost resented herself for saying it. In that moment, she felt sick. But he'd been planning on walking away- as if it was no big deal, as if he couldn't see how much she liked him back. How much she always had, despite her shoving it down, covering it up and hiding it away. Her feelings. He'd been planning on walking away and she just couldn't let him.

Amy had stopped him in his tracks. He'd grabbed her hands. She stated her fact.

Amy could still see it clearly in her head now; his total astonishment. It was so clear on his face that she didn't think he was even trying to hide it. He'd dropped her hand and issued a single word; "What?"

"Don't make me say it again," She'd whispered, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. She herself had hardly registered the fact that he might like HER. Her, of all people.

And with that, Ian Kabra had just grinned, and walked up the hill.

They were silent all the way back to the house. There had been traffic in the parking lots, slow-moving cars as everyone tried to leave at once, and it had made her nervous. Panicky. The longer she stayed in the car- Ian had rented it that morning- the worse she felt. She felt close to tears, which you wouldn't expect from a girl who'd just found out the guy she liked liked her back.

But in truth, it was just anxiety mixed with her tiredness. She wanted some time to be alone, to think for a while.

Amy had been dead scared that Ian might try to 'make a move' (something stupid that someone like Dan would probably say) on her in the car. But he didn't, and she was excessively glad. There were some boundaries. At least, at the time. Not that she wouldn't have disliked kissing him or anything like that- she just wasn't sure she could take it at the moment. Amy felt a rush of gratitude now towards him for leaving her alone.

Thinking back on that moment now, from her bedroom, Amy realized she hadn't gotten to think much- and that was what she was doing now as she relayed all of this in her head. She wished almost that it was nighttime so that she could go to her secret place in the woods, the cliff overlooking the city. She could still go there, technically. But the place didn't have near as much of a calming affect at day as at night. It was easy to think with the stars overhead, and not so much the hot sun.

So Amy stayed wrapped in her blankets, in a cocoon, hugging her pillow.

She didn't feel like she'd ever be ready to come out.

**~Sinead~**

Sinead was making herself a milkshake in Grace's house.

The blender in the guesthouse had a busted button. Sinead was no Nellie Gomez, but she'd been plenty annoyed when the blender refused to puree her strawberries.

As much as she'd wanted to fix the blender herself- and she really did, her fingers were itching to take something apart and put it back together after hardly doing any of that this week- her stomach was already growling, and the better part of Sinead knew that if she sat down to fix the blender, she wouldn't be able to leave until it was done. And skipping breakfast was not an option- it was the most important meal of the day. Sinead muttered a promise to herself that she'd fix the blender later and she'd taken her strawberries, bananas, etc and gone to Grace's house.

On the way there, she saw Hamilton actually doing push ups on the driveway. She probably would have stared, but he saw her. So she totally didn't.

"Hi!" She yelled, waving with her free hand. Hamilton stood up for a minute and waved at her. He seemed like he was going to come over, but she just wanted a smoothie at that moment, and she didn't want to interrupt him from his usual morning routine. So she pointed to container of various fruits in her hand and called, "I catch up with you after breakfast!" She made sure to shoot him a big smile so he didn't think she was avoiding her or anything.

Then she hurried into Grace's house, hoping there might be a view of Hamilton from the kitchen window.

This girlish thought dissolved when she entered the kitchen and saw Ian Kabra sitting there. Her first thought was almost to laugh, on account of the fact that she'd named her stuffed goat after him. But that thought also dissolved in a moment.

Ian was one of the few people staying in the Cahill house rather than the guesthouse. Sinead figured it was because of his demand to room ALONE. She rolled her eyes at the thought. She didn't really want to, but she said,

"Hi."

Try as she might- and she actually had- Sinead had never been able to bring herself to like Ian. For her, there was nothing there TO like- as bad as that sounded. She could just never get around his attitude, his nastiness. It didn't matter that he was good looking.

As a very technical person, Sinead knew it was all about what was on the INSIDES of machines. A machine that might look brand new could just as well have a fuse blown inside as a machine that looked old. It didn't matter how the outside looked- the inside held the wires, the parts connecting that made the machine work.

And to Sinead, that was how it was with people, too.

Sinead thought there was some good in Ian somewhere. But all he ever showed of who he was inside, for the most part, was the bad. Sinead did, however, grudgingly have to admit that whenever she saw glimpses of Ian being a better person, he was with Amy.

Sinead looked at Ian suspiciously. Amy had said their week was going by rather uneventfully. Sinead hoped that was true. She was NOT going to hesitate to kick some sense into Ian. If she had too.

Thinking around about Amy, Sinead brightened a little, realizing she had some serious stuff to tell her best friend about. It took Sinead all of these thoughts to realize that Ian hadn't even said hello back. Which made her seethe slightly. She sighed. Whatever.

Sinead went about setting up her fruit. She opened multiple cabinets before she found the blender. She plugged it into the wall and sneaked a look at Ian. She'd figured he hadn't said hello back because he didn't care, but the realization that he seemed quite distracted popped into her mind.

She turned around and flat out just LOOKED at him, crossing her arms.

He didn't even seem to realize she was there.

There was a faraway look on his face. His eyes, which were so brightly amber, were trained in front of him, and yet he didn't seem to actually be seeing. He was in a state of deep thought. No, wait- a smile tugged on the corners of his mouth. Sinead stared. He seemed to be daydreaming.

Thoroughly weirded out, Sinead turned around and dumped her fruit into the blender. She splashed in a mix of a few other ingredients and hit her favored setting. Puree.

After about 15 seconds, Sinead was surprised to hear a rather irritated yell from Ian. "Can you PLEASE turn that off?"

She didn't think he really meant the please. But she hit the off button anyway.

"It's funny." Sinead said calmly, unplugging the blender and pouring smoothie into a cup. "20 seconds ago, I wouldn't have even guessed you'd hear the blender on at all." She regarded him curiously, as if he was a specimen and she a scientist. His eyes narrowed. Sinead felt the need to add, "You didn't even notice I was here until like, a second ago- right?"

"I was deep in thought." He said indigently, dislike for her sort of obvious in his tone.

Sinead wondered for a moment if Hamilton would come inside when he was done with his push ups or whatever he did to work out. Ah, well, I guess I have a minute, Sinead thought. She sat down, genuinely intrigued in Ian's state now versus when he hadn't even thought she was there. "And what were those deep thoughts about?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ian's eyes were still narrowed. "You don't care," He said, "And even if you did, I wouldn't tell you." He smirked slightly. Yes, Ian was Mr. Smirky anyway, but he didn't actually seem to be in such a bad mood. Sinead remembered suddenly that at the last family gathering, she'd helped Dan sic Saladin on Ian.

Oops.

All that seemed forgotten now though, and Ian went back to looking slightly distracted. (He seemed quite aware of Sinead though.) His gaze had wondered off for a moment and then it snapped back towards her, and he said, "Tell me something. What does it mean when... When a girl stops talking to you?"

Sinead stopped mid-drink of her smoothie and set her cup down, surprised by this question. "It depends on the situation." Sinead said. She thought, what the HECK did you do to make Amy stop talking to you? Because he MUST have been referring to her. She was the only person Ian seemed to care one ounce for besides Natalie, though Sinead had no earthly idea why.

But she was confused- a moment ago he was smiling.

"It would help if you told me what happened." Sinead prompted when he didn't say anything.

Ian frowned. "Maybe that's between me and the girl."

"Maybe."

A moment passed and Sinead simply drank her smoothie. It seemed Ian finally caught on; without giving her more information, he wouldn't really get any answers.

"Fine." He said with a sigh. "What if you told a girl you liked her, and she said she liked you back, but then didn't say a word to you? Just... Stopped talking to you?"

Sinead was bewildered, frozen again mid-drink. She placed her cup down slowly. If he was talking about Amy, that meant he LIKED her. Which actually was kind of... Hm. Sinead wasn't sure how that made her feel. It makes sense, actually, she thought, eyes widening. She hadn't realized that. Why hadn't she realized that?

If he was talking about Amy, that meant she liked him back.

Protectiveness over Amy fought its way into Sinead's thoughts. If Ian liked Amy for real, then he wouldn't hurt her. Right? But she was worried anyway. She made a mental note here to make it obvious to Ian that he'd be REALLY sorry if he hurt Amy.

"Hello?" Ian said impatiently.

"Oh! Right." Sinead said. She shrugged coolly. "This is Amy we're talking about. My guess is that she just wants a bit of time to sort her thoughts out." Sinead stood up, done her smoothie. She dumped the cup into the kitchen sink.

Ian stared at her, bewildered. "How did you know I was talking about Amy?"

Sinead tried her hand at an Ian-level smirk. "Ekat, remember?" She said, tapping a finger to her temple. In all honesty, though, she thought anyone would have made that connection if they'd been around day-dreamer-Ian long enough. Sinead turned to leave, but she paused and stopped in the doorway. "Ian?"

"Yes?" He said, still looking a bit shocked.

"If you hurt Amy, I'm going to kill you myself. And that's a promise." She smiled at him brightly.

**~Dan~**

Dan felt stupid. Which was quite depressing.

He was aiming for a sugar overdose here- maybe if he ate enough gummy worms, he'd slip into a coma and never have to live to see Natalie Kabra's face again.

His memories were playing dramatically over in his head. When Natalie had hugged him after she dragged him out shopping; when she'd rested her head against his shoulder, stuck in that closet; and any other time he'd been close enough to feel his heart being pulled towards her's magnetically, almost just from the scent of her jasmine perfume.

HER TOTAL REJECTION OF HIM AFTER THE FAIR.

Okay, so maybe she hadn't really rejected him. But it felt like she had.

Dan winced and rested his head against the kitchen counter. So far, his gummy worm count was a total of 47 bugs. He was not in a coma yet. HE NEEDED MORE SUGAR.

When Dan had come downstairs, he was looking forwards to having the place to himself, though he did see the tips of Sinead's red hair as she left, and he did see Ian- NATALIE'S brother- for about a full minute until the jerko left him alone like he wanted to be.

And thus Dan sat in misery with only a lot of gummy worms for company.

The night before... Dan had been so sure his little plan would work. He'd only wanted to let her know how he'd felt, and getting her to laugh in the process was just a bonus. He wasn't sure what he'd expected. Just... Not exactly what he'd gotten.

He'd though she might open up. She might finally be a blooming flower rather than a flower tightly shut, hiding its beauty from the rest of the world.

He liked her so much when she acted like herself.

For a moment there last night, she'd been laughing. He'd felt good. Far from confident, but... Yeah, pretty good. She was laughing with him. She thought he was funny. She knew that he liked her. When the laughter died down, his eyes were stuck on her, and tension like lines of ropes tethered their gazes together.

He wanted his point to be evident. He wanted her to know, but he was scared of scaring her away. It was already too much to hope for that she might like him back. So he was hoping for acceptance- it would make taking the weight off of his shoulders feel nice, rather than something he'd miss if she didn't accept what he had to say. Words were stuck in his throat, begging to come out, and his mouth opened in effort, but he couldn't make a sound.

He watched her transform. Maybe it was a security precaution of sorts for her. But for whatever reason it was, Dan had just stood dumbly and watched her as all of a sudden, she was a different person. A colder person, the person she'd been during the clue hunt. Her face became an emotionless mask, but he could see her thoughts reflected in her eyes.

Now Dan felt like yelling. He'd worked so hard this week, to... To UNDO that in her. He just wanted HER. As herself. Even only as friends. She was too cool as an actual person to lose. He valued their friendship more than he would have ever thought before.

Had telling her he liked her put them back at square one? Would he have to work to slowly build their friendship again, or was that not possible? Was she done with him completely?

They'd walked home in silence, an invisible but obvious wall between them. Dan had a dreadful feeling that it was all his fault. In a way, he wanted to blame Natalie. He really did. But he couldn't. Maybe he'd just taken things a little too far. To Natalie, they were probably hardly friends, anyway.

Dan shoved another gummy worm into his mouth and chewed halfheartedly. "I expected too much of her," He mumbled to himself. He had expected a butterfly from a caterpillar in less than a week. Natalie had barely begun to create a cocoon, and Dan was demanding metamorphosis.

Dan muttered a complaint to himself, because he was out of gummy worms.

He looked up suddenly, hearing the sound of the front door. He straightened when he saw who it was: Natalie.

Dread formed in his stomach. Or maybe it was all the worms. God, he shouldn't have eaten that many- he hadn't even achieved his sugar coma.

Natalie was wearing a purple dress and as if they didn't enough on their own, it really made the amber color of her eyes stand out. She was also wearing no expression and crossed arms. Seeing Natalie all serious like that kind of hurt, for some reason. Dan cleared his throat, for once in his life ready to attempt a proper apology. (It was funny, the things he was willing to do for her.)

But surprisingly, before he said a word, the blank seriousness melted off of her face. Beneath this mask, there was another kind of seriousness- but one more of insecurity. Insecurity- wow. That made Dan feel... Well, he didn't know how it made him feel. Natalie sat down beside Dan at the counter.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Dan counted the seconds before she started talking- he reached 15. "Dan..." Natalie started. She looked him in the eyes, which made him feel like someone was pumping his heart full of air and it was going to burst. "I'm sorry, alright? I was a little bit cold last night." Dan said nothing. Natalie frowned deeply. "You know." She said.

"Right..." Dan said slowly. He was kind of pleasantly surprised that she was sorry. Hope budded inside of him. Maybe he hadn't messed up everything. Just some of it. Dan couldn't help but add on in a blurt, "A little bit?"

Natalie's eyes narrowed. "Fine. A lot, then. Does that make you feel better?" Natalie asked.

"No."

There was a pause as both of them seemed to collect their thoughts. "Well, I am sorry." Natalie said, only the tiniest hint of grudging-ness in her voice when she finally made the first move to get them speaking again.

"Me too." Dan said, finding it surprisingly easy to look at her now. "I think... I might have said what I said... A little too soon."

Just as their gazes had been tied the night before, they were now. Natalie opened her mouth to say something, and there was such honesty in her eyes that he hadn't seen before. But Natalie closed her mouth and broke the gaze. "Don't worry about it," She said softly. She stood up and cleared her throat. "Well. I have something in mind for what we could do today- are you coming?" Natalie walked over to the door and made a beckoning motion with her hand. Dan's hopes soared; he had not lost her.

He would not mess up again.

"I'm coming." Dan told her. He looked down into the bag of gummy worms that he'd presumed empty only minutes before. To his surprise, there was one left. Dan walked to the doorway and popped the gummy in his mouth.

He followed Natalie outside, taking the gummy as a good omen.

_A/N_

_**Q:** Do you love a fictional character? If so, who? (Asked by The Gone Angel) **A:** I could not resist answering this question. I have too many fictional crushes... Omg I'm such a loser xD I'd list them all, but I'm currently the most obsessed with Ian Kabra... *Hides in shame* I'M SORRY OKAY HE'S PERFECT. xD In all honesty, I really, really like the concept of his personality and his past. I'm kinda obsessed with from-different-worlds romances, if you know what I mean- Not like, SPACE, (:P) But like, people from different upbringings, kind of. Which is part of why I love Ian. Because he loves Amy and they're really kind of opposite. (DON'T PRETEND HE DOESN'T LOVE HER! HE DOES!) I like portraying him as kind of hating to have emotion and to show it- which I am doing to death in London. But it's so FASCINATING. I LOVE Ian. I'd marry him okay. Stop laughing at me please I know you're in love with him too :P (Or some other fictional character :P) To me, he really seems like a complex person- and all the boys I know are about as complex as a rock -_-_

_**Q:** If you could create the world's greatest Cahill that you would date, what qualities would you have in them? (Asked by Turquoiseblogger) **A:** I wanted to answer this question mostly just so that I could say that if I was creating a guy to date (Okay that's so weird xD xD) I'd give him two different colored eyes. Not like, one brown and one green- but probably one green and one blue. Idk why I like that so much. Stop laughing at me... D: I'd also probably give him dark brown hair. He'd be a Janus and he'd LOVE music. Uhmm and he'd have a great smile :) xD More importantly than how he looks, though- he'd be hilarious. (Which is funny, because I love Ian, and he's about as humorous as a rock. I really need to stop saying 'as a rock'. I got that from Ian anyways -_- But lets not talk about that it's WAY TOO UPSETTING OH MY GOODNESS)_

_That's all so freaking long I'm sorry _

_~Lovely _


	30. A Few Failed Recomposes

_A/N_

_*Bows* Thank you for your reviews. Not to worry, the usual questions have returned to the bottom A/N ;) So, chapter 30. When I hadn't ever dreamed I'd make it so far._

_Thank you, everyone, for making this story everything that it has become. It really means a lot to me. The countdown has begun; only 9 chapters left._

_Big thanks to **A Pencil in her hand** for helping me with Natalie's part! :D_

_Disclaimer: How many Lovelys does it take to screw in a lightbulb? NONE CAUSE SHE DOESN'T OWN THE 39 CLUES (I'm not even trying anymore...)_

CHAPTER THIRTY: A Few Failed Recomposes

**~Natalie~**

There weren't so many instances in her life where Natalie Kabra had felt heartless. Yes, she'd been cold and unfeeling many times. But there were not so many instances where she'd actually felt as if there was no heart beating inside of her chest.

Last night, she'd begun to feel heartless.

The higher part of her wanted to believe that her reaction to Dan's confession had been respectable and totally a-okay. But it hadn't been. Because holy mackerel, or whatever that stupid expression was- He LIKED her. He LIKED her, he liked her, he LIKED her.

And she hadn't been able to say that she liked him back.

She'd just frozen, a deer in the headlights. And then they'd walked home. Natalie considered this cowardly. She was disappointed in herself. The prideful side of her made her unwilling to admit that she liked him back. She still hadn't told him, and she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to tell him. She thought that... Maybe he was right. About telling her his feelings a little too soon. Purely just because she had hardly sorted out her own feelings, and liking Dan was like, the hardest thing ever.

But there was that part of Natalie that felt like dancing, or laughing, or standing on her tiptoes to throw her arms around his neck in tight hug of congratulations. Because he LIKED her. She had no idea why- she was mean and outwardly vain and secretly self-conscious. She was a 'cobra', though she hadn't heard him say that all week. He, however, was nice, and brilliant, and funny...

He liked HER.

Maybe that was where the 'stupid boy' thing came into play again.

She felt surprisingly wriggly, full of life and adrenaline. The stupid little valentine was still in her pocket. She hadn't had the heart to throw it away, despite it being a random find of Dan's, given to her along with a mischievous smile. Natalie felt so much better than she had last night- Once she'd apologized, and he'd accepted it... She kind of felt like finding some confetti and throwing it everywhere, versus feeling horrible last night.

(To be honest, she hadn't even gotten a good night sleep. She was dead tired, but guilt and, yes, a little happiness that Dan liked her had kind of kept her up late. Mostly the guilt though.)

So as a brilliant idea of hers, after apologizing, she'd decided to show him her collection.

It was a little known fact about Natalie that she had an aficionado for collecting- in fact, kind of no one knew about it. But it just felt... RIGHT to show Dan. She knew he collected stuff, too, and he always had. In all honesty, she was new to the world of collecting- she'd only been doing it for about a year.

But she owed him an apology. More than just saying sorry. She could feel it inside of her- she trusted him. He wouldn't tell anyone.

"Come on." Natalie said, pulling him to the guesthouse and then to the room she was staying in with Sinead. Dan didn't protest, he just allowed himself to be nicely brought along.

Natalie stopped at the doorway to her room. She hesitated, easily giving this decision a second thought now that it was staring her in the face. Dan looked at her, green eyes wide. "What is it?" He asked her. Natalie took a deep breath and entered the room.

"I have something I'd like to show you." She responded carefully.

Natalie walked towards her suitcase and opened it up. She pulled a small case out from the bottom of it- half of her collection. Everything else she'd collected she hadn't brought with her, so she'd only be able to show Dan some of it. Natalie turned back to Dan, the case held tightly against her chest.

She opened the case, setting it down on a small end table that was by the door.

Inside the case were rows of clear pockets. Inside the pockets were coins. There was some paper money, but mostly coins. A lot of them.

Naturally the thing Natalie Kabra would find herself collecting would be money.

But no, actually, it wasn't really like that. Natalie liked collecting money for different reasons- the first being that it just plain fascinated her. The coins were from all over the world. It was interesting how money could be so important in one country, but taken to another- useless. Pretty much worthless.

The second reason was that the money was just plain beautiful. Natalie had always adored anything shiny, and she had sat in her room on more than one rainy day just arranging her coins into patterns or color-coordinating them. It was an easy thing to do, and she liked to let her mind wander while she touched the coins.

The third reason Natalie had taken to collecting coins was that they reminded her of all the places she'd been. She loved to travel. She tried to get money from all of the places she'd traveled to. Being kind-of rich, (she barely considered herself rich now, at least compared to what she'd once had) Natalie knew it was entirely possible to purchase money online and have it sent to her, or trade for it. But there was something about going to the place the money originated from that she liked- it was a piece of culture from the rest of the world, and she'd gone and gotten it herself.

Every coin was one she'd gotten herself.

There was one more reason Natalie was collecting coins. She was hoping that when she had enough for a whole set, she could totally make them into jewelry. Because how chic would that be? Jewelry made of ACTUAL money?

"Wow," Dan said.

Natalie felt nervous at showing him something she considered a big secret of hers. "I collect them." She said. "Coins. From all over the world."

To her relief, Dan's eyes lit up.

"Did you say 'collect'?" He asked, obviously knowing that was indeed what she'd said. "That is like, so cool." Natalie felt her cheeks growing warm at his praise, but she waved his comment away. Dan grinned, his eyes scanning the different pockets in the case, all with assorted coins. Natalie bit her lip, watching him. He looked so enthusiastically... INTO it. Her face grew warmer. "Is this your whole collection?" Dan asked.

Natalie shook her head. "I didn't think I'd need to bring the whole thing this week." She paused. "Honestly, I only brought them in case I needed something to do. I have a sort of a plan that I'd like to make the coins into jewelry, and so I figured that if I started hating all of you Cahills this week, I'd hide in my room and sort my money."

Dan grinned some more. "That is SO like you," He said. "That was like, the most Natalie statement I've ever heard." Natalie swatted him away, laughing. It felt good to laugh with him...

"Yes, so, anyway." Natalie said briskly, trying to recompose herself. But when she looked at Dan, all excited like that, like some little kid, she found she couldn't regain a regal air. He was still grinning, and his eyes had never looked so brightly green. "I just thought I'd show you," Natalie said, her futile attempts to suppress her feelings sliding away.

She found herself smiling at him shyly.

**~Hamilton~**

The sun turned her hair to bright, fiery red as she crossed the lawn to meet him.

"Hello, Hamilton," She greeted, seemingly in good cheer. Hamilton felt himself stand up straighter when she acknowledged him. Despite the sun beating down on them, she wore the usual long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans. Today, her shirt matched the color of her eyes exactly.

He was wearing the clothes he worked out in.

"Hi," Hamilton said. He looked down at himself awkwardly and silently reprimanded himself for getting a bit of a late start on his training that morning. The fact that he'd stayed up late was not a good enough excuse- because now he hadn't cleaned himself up yet, and Sinead was already ready to do... Whatever the heck it was that they were going to do today. "I'm sorry," He said, apologizing for the nice sweat he had worked up. "Uh... I need to take a shower. But I promise it'll be quick."

Sinead just smiled. Then she wrinkled her nose, mockingly pretending she smelled something bad. "You better," She said. Hamilton rolled his eyes at her.

He scooped up his water bottle and drank all of it in one gulp. He threw Sinead a smart salute, then jogged towards the Cahill house, where he was staying in Dan's room. "Be back soon!" Hamilton yelled.

"I'll be waiting in the guesthouse!" Sinead called back, already headed that way. "Don't forget the soap!"

Hamilton knew she was kidding, but his face turned red anyway. Working out was VERY important, but the results of working out are only good AFTER one has taken a shower.

Inside, Hamilton rushed through his nice, cold shower and then threw on some clothes. He shook himself like he was a dog, water droplets spraying the bathroom in a fine mist. His excitement at spending another day with Sinead was growing. It didn't matter that this would be seeing the same person again for the 6th day in a row- because that person was Sinead Starling, and he wasn't sure he'd ever get tired of her.

He wondered absently where she lived. Did she even live in America anymore? She, Ned and Ted had money. It was possible that they could be living somewhere extravagant, though that idea didn't seem like something Sinead would do. He wondered if she and her brothers still lived with their parents? Sinead had said they weren't so close...

Hamilton bounded down the steps and out the front door. He really was curious about all that, because he didn't know- and he wanted to know where Sinead would be when the week was over. He wondered if it might actually be a while before he saw her again.

He knew that he'd be returning with the rest of the Holts back to home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when the week was out.

Sinead was inside the guesthouse, typing away at a laptop computer for the second time that week.

"Hi," He said, coming inside to sit down beside her. "What're you doing?" He asked, trying to peek at the screen. Sinead's face flushed slightly and she closed the laptop quickly. He grinned, quite enjoying the fact that he could make her blush.

"None of your business!" She replied, sliding the laptop into her backpack, which was sitting on the floor beside her. She quickly attempted to recompose herself, tucking a stray hair behind her ear and tugging her sleeves down. Surprising himself as well as her, Hamilton grabbed her by the wrists, stopping her from pulling her sleeves down anymore.

"You don't need to do that," He told her, peering into her green eyes. They were a light shade of green, bordering on being blue. She stared, caught in his words. She looked down at her wrists.

"It's a habit." She muttered. "I don't... I don't like my scars showing." She sat back, and he dropped her hands, nodding slightly. Sinead had showed him her scars before. But that didn't necessarily mean she'd ever want to do that again, or that she wanted anyone seeing them. He supposed... That she was still rather self conscious about the scars, and that hit him hard in a bad way. She wasn't really someone who deserved to feel un-pretty.

"Your scars aren't YOU." He told her. He dared to take her hand again. He gingerly peeled back a sleeve, and Sinead flinched. "This," he said, pointing to her wrist, "Is not who you are. This doesn't define you at all."

He was quiet and she was quiet for a long moment. He righted her sleeve and looked down at her.

It was so LIKE the first time he'd seen her scars, only a few days before. Here eyes seemed to show that she was open and vulnerable. And she was never normally like that at all. She was so confident, the girl with the fiery hair and the intelligent eyes. But he supposed that maybe deep down she was still hurt from a lot of stuff that happened in the past.

"Thank you," She said. Her eyes had filled with tears, making him feel intensely bad, but her tears did not fall, just as they had not the first time he'd seen the scars. She gave him a watery smile. She looked down at her hand in his and she seemed to relax. Hamilton relaxed a little, too, having felt tense himself at upsetting her. "One day," Sinead told him, her beautiful eyes wide, "I'm going to wear whatever I want." Her smile grew wider, too, and there was a tinge of sadness in it. "Today is not that day. Not yet. But... Thank you."

"You're welcome." He murmured.

He geared himself up to kiss her. How could he not? It would be kiss number 2, and though he was nervous, he thought that the actual feeling of kissing her would outweigh however nervous he felt now. He leaned in.

Their lips were just about to touch when the sound of loud laughter interrupted them. Hamilton and Sinead both sprang apart, turning towards the noise.

Dan and Natalie were standing in the hallway that led off to the rest of the house. When they saw Hamilton and Sinead, their laughter died in their throats.

"Uh... Sorry." Dan said awkwardly. He looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head as he stared. Hamilton didn't exactly appreciate his gaze, which was switching from Hamilton to Sinead, as if to say, THEY were going to kiss?! Some great friend support, little buddy, Hamilton thought sarcastically. He almost said that out loud.

Natalie looked rather horrified, and Hamilton had to wonder if it was because of the people who had been about to kiss, or the fact the she'd interrupted the kiss.

Hamilton glared at Dan.

"We'll just be going now," Dan said. He grabbed Natalie's hand and dragged her out the house, shooting Hamilton a look that said, "You have a lot of explaining to do." As Dan and Natalie left, Hamilton heard Dan whisper-hiss painfully loudly, "Did you SEE that?!"

Hamilton stared stupidly in the direction they'd come and then left. He shook his head, coming to his senses. He felt more disappointed than anything else.

But he turned to Sinead, she didn't look as disappointed as he felt. In fact, she began to laugh good-naturedly. Hamilton felt himself relax, and his laughter joined hers. He supposed it WAS kind of funny...

When this stops being funny, he thought to himself, maybe I'll ask her for a do-over.

**~Ian~**

Ian was getting twitchy and impatient.

He was running out of things to do. Well, he wasn't really sure he'd had anything to do in the first place.

But the point was, he didn't FEEL like waiting for Amy. He wanted her to hurry up with sorting out her feelings or whatever it was that she was doing. Sinead had said Amy probably just needed a bit of time to think...

Why can't she think HERE, with me? Ian thought irritably.

For the last 10 minutes, he'd been switching between this irritability and a sort of a quiet, trance-like state, a lot on his mind. But as time progressed and he didn't see Amy, he was becoming more and more annoyed and less and less thoughtful. Girls always had to make you wait, didn't they?

He sighed.

He'd had a late night but he'd gotten up early anyway- he'd always found it impossible to do that thing called 'sleeping in'. He just didn't do that. His body knew his sleep schedule and therefore he wouldn't have been able to go back to sleep even if he had wanted to. He was an early riser, no matter how late he stayed up at night.

He'd done his morning routine. Shower, breakfast with some tea, more tea. He tried reading Amy's book again. He got farther in this time, and would have even been enjoying it, maybe, if he hadn't started to feel so antsy. Amy was not like other girls- Ian couldn't comprehend what had happened in the last 24 hours very well.

He had gone in this week from being slightly attracted to her (or so he'd told himself) as he had always been to being really attracted to her. Then he'd decided he would never tell her; not for all the money in the world. But that had changed, too. He was having such severe doubts that this was only a 'crush'. He was finding out that, surprisingly, he didn't know a thing about romance. Not REAL romance, anyway. He could charm most any girl on the planet, and yes, maybe that included Amy, but looks and words are one thing and feelings another.

He wished he'd been listening more closely when Amy had been having that phone conversation about love.

So he'd decided that he'd have to tell her. That he liked her. So he had. But he was NOT expecting the reaction he'd gotten.

Amy liked him back, she said.

There was one half of him that wanted to just be with her, around her; that was growing anguished that she wasn't there now. But the other half of him felt like yelling and staying as far away from her as possible. Dramatic, yes, but he wasn't used to feeling such turmoil. He wasn't used to caring so much about one person, besides maybe Natalie, who he'd silently taken up an oath to take care of after being abandoned by Isabel and Vikram.

He was so... Conflicted. Completely stuck between wanting to be euphoric and wanting to bang his head on the kitchen table. So he simply stared down into the depths of his teacup. His tea was not very helpful in giving him a response to his problems.

Calm down, he told himself silently. Amy LIKES you, and that's what matters. Right?

He didn't really know.

Suddenly he looked up, his keen ears picking up some sounds. The quiet creaking of someone coming down the steps and then down the hall. Ian glanced at the clock. Late, he thought, she's late. Sure, there wasn't really a starting time for each day, but it was polite to be around in the morning when they were supposed to spend entire days with each other.

It was nearly lunch time.

Ian tensed, waiting to see Amy. After what felt like an eternity, he saw her peer out from around the corner. When she stepped out, their eyes met, and he saw that she was still wearing what he assumed she'd slept in- a t-shirt, like she always wore, but fuzzy pink pajama pants.

"Hello, Amy," He greeted rather casually. As if there hadn't been a block between them since they'd admitted their feelings and then silently parted.

Amy sort of shuffled in awkwardly, hair partly obscuring her face. But she took the seat beside him and smiled at him. Oh, she's good, he thought, impressed. Despite her awkwardness she was looking him squarely in the eyes, a smile on her face. He wondered what she was aiming at.

"Hi, Ian." She greeted quietly. But her voice was confident enough- at least, without a stutter. He regarded her curiously, eyes slightly narrowed.

He wondered abruptly if she ever felt pretty.

The way she carried herself suggested that she did not, or at least didn't want any attention drawn towards herself, for whatever her reasons were. But she didn't seem to know the effect she had on him. She made his breath catch in his throat whenever she was close, and whether she saw it in herself or not, he thought she was beautiful and he'd openly said so that night at her lookout place.

But now, her pink pajamas were just an added bonus. Ian felt like reached out and tracing the pattern with his fingertips.

He did no such thing.

"What would you like to do today?" He asked civilly, unable to keep all of his curiosity out of his tone.

Amy shrugged neutrally. Ian didn't really care that she didn't give him a straight answer- he was just glad that she'd finally come out of hiding.

"Well then." Ian said. He stood up. "You'd better change. We're going out for lunch."

_A/N_

_Was that terrible? Gosh I hope it wasn't. But there were some parts I was uncertain of. Just let me know whatcha think._

_1) Last night I fell and literally skidded across a sidewalk covered in ice- I scraped my knuckles up pretty badly and pulled a muscle in my leg. Do you have any cuts, scrapes, bruises, etc right now?! (I hope the answer is no!)_

_2) Are you cold or hot right now? (I'm freezing)_

_3) Have you seen the actor portrayals of the 39 Clues characters from the website? If so, how do they match up to how you imagined them? (In all honesty, I just like, cringe at most of them. I'm so sorry but I don't know if they did a very good job casting? xD I've only done one 'mission' on the website, and it was Ian, and I could not stand the fact that he looked like he was like, 30 -_- xD He was an alright actor but honestly he just DID NOT LOOK RIGHT to me xD Am I just picky? Whadda you think? :))_

_4) Are you guys interested in me doing some kind of contest with the prize being a one-shot that the winner picks the genres and characters of?_

_~Lovely_


	31. Amy the Awkward

_A/N_

_I was so sorry to hear of the injuries some of you guys had... I feel your pain. Lol. Get better-er soon, y'hear?_

_News: I've posted an Amian one-shot. If you checked it out, THANK YOU! If you haven't, GO DO THAT! xD_  
_Soon I really hope to post a Natan one-shot, like you all want me to. Okay? xD xD  
__Also- as of now, I'm taking my time updating London, because I feel that I've made a bigger commitment to this story. But never fear, I really like where I'm going with London, so it shouldn't be to long before that's updated, too!_

_Credit to **The Gone Angel**, for a while ago suggesting an awkward meetup between Sinead/Hamilton and Ian/Amy. AND special thanks/credit to **addicted2reading9**, for suggesting that Sinead or Hamilton notice how strange it was that when they'd been interrupted, it was by Natalie and Dan laughing- and not by them trying to like, kill each other._

_xD_

_Disclaimer: If I owned the 39 Clues... I dunno. I wonder how the series would end up. I think, really weird. xD As you can see by my writing xD And there would just be like Natan and Amian everywhere and stuff xD_

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: Amy the Awkward

**~Dan~**

She collected coins.

Freaking. Collected. Coins.

This week had been such a switch for Dan. He'd gone from absolute dislike of Natalie Kabra to absolute... Like. But finding out that she COLLECTED something? That was like, the cherry on top of the sundae of doom. Doom because he didn't need to like her any more than he already did.

Because even if they were kinda sorta friends now, they wouldn't be anything more than that. Ever.

Natalie was actually going through all of her coins, showing him. She seemed very in-her-element, and she knew where every coin was from and how much it was worth and how she'd gotten it. Dan felt like he was seeing something that he'd never seen in her before- he'd always assumed their were two sides to her, the 'real' her and the person she pretended to be. One side a normal, insecure girl and the other side a confident girl.

But watching her now, he understood. The real Natalie wasn't one side of her- it was a combination of both the sides. She WAS confident. But she was ALSO insecure.

Thinking about that kinda made Dan's brain hurt, but it was what he was finding to be true. And he was glad that she'd dared to show him pieces of herself, of her personality, that yes, she might normally hide.

Like right now.

Dan couldn't help but lean in towards her a little while she talked. She was magnetically attractive to him, reeling him in on her line quite easily.

He wished it wasn't so easy for her.

He didn't even think she realized how cool this was to him. That she knew all that stuff about the coins. Just the fact that she COLLECTED them. Dan had met some fellow kid collectors like himself before, but never one who was a GIRL.

And who would have guessed that girl was Natalie Kabra?

"This one is like, my favorite." Natalie was saying. "It's from Italy." Her eyes, which had been cast downward for minutes now, trained on her coins, suddenly looked up into Dan's eyes, making him feel like he was getting electrocuted or something. "Do you want to look at it?" Natalie asked. "If I ever get around to making a necklace or something... This will be the centerpiece."

"Oh! Uhm, sure." Dan said. Natalie passed him the coin, and he shivered when their fingers brushed. Dan looked at the coin closely. It really was kinda awesome. He wondered if he should start a coin collection; but then again, he already had like, 100 different collections... "Awesome," Dan said, handing it back to her.

Natalie hesitated for a moment, then she frowned. "I'm not like, making you bored, am I?" She asked, sounding slightly self-conscious. Dan wanted to tell her there was no reason for her to be. Didn't she get that she already had him caught? Her secret, slight doubt kind of made him want to bang his head against a wall.

She was as close to perfect as anyone was ever going to get.

"No," He promised her. Suddenly they heard a loud voice calling,

"Dan? Natalie? Yoohoo- where are you guys?"

Dan turned towards the door, recognizing the voice as Nellie's. His gaze connected with Natalie's, and she shrugged. "I guess we should go see what she wants," Dan said. They bounded down the stairs. (Well, Dan did. Natalie walked calmly, flicking her hair over her shoulder when she reached the bottom of the steps.)

"Dan- THERE you are!" Nellie said, sighing. "I've been looking for you two for like, a half an hour. And I don't really appreciate that because I'm KIND of trying to make cupcakes for tomorrow night, and they're in the oven in the other house." Nellie said. "Why haven't you been answering your phone?" She asked, directing this last question solely at Dan.

Dan paled. He pulled out his phone. He'd been so distracted at Natalie's fascinating collection that he hadn't even noticed he'd gotten like, 3 texts from Nellie. Dan looked at Natalie sheepishly before turning his gaze to Nellie and muttering, "Sorry."

"Well, whatever, it's fine." Nellie said. "I just needed to give you a message. It's from Fiske. And yeah, it's for you too, Ms. Kabra." Nellie grinned, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. "You're SO going to love this message."

Natalie stepped forward first, snatching the paper out of Nellie's hand. She read whatever the note said, then smiled brilliantly. "This is great!" She cheered. Nellie looked relieved.

"I'm glad you think that."

"Excuse me," Dan said, poking Nellie in the ribs, "But do you guys mind telling me WHAT the paper says?"

"Fiske said that since the party was your idea, you get to set it up." Nellie explained. She glanced at the happy Natalie, then shot Dan a look of sympathy. "His orders... Fiske wrote a buncha stuff down on that paper, but if you need anything else, I'll be in the kitchen in Grace's house. Alright?"

Dan nodded at her and she bounded off, saluting him as if he were entering a war zone. Dan froze, staving off a wince. He had to party decorate? That kinda spelled...

Boring.

"This is SO fun," Natalie said, her thoughts obviously contradicting to his. Her eyes shining as she read the list. Then she frowned slightly. "We'll probably need like, a ton more stuff than it says you guys have in your shed... But we can go out and get that in a bit if we have to." She handed the note to Dan for him to read.

There were some basic instructions for setting up, like where everything should go, but basically Fiske had given them creative abilities. As Natalie had mentioned, he'd also written up a list of everything party-related that they already had in stock from other stuff.

Natalie finally saw Dan's glum expression. She rolled her eyes. "This WILL be fun," She assured him. The way she smiled at him, he almost believed her.

Almost.

But it was worth it, because Natalie took his hand and began pulling him towards the front door, headed for the shed outside. Natalie laughed vibrantly, obviously in a good mood now. Dan kind of was, too. Decorating wasn't on the top of his Awesome Stuff To Do list, but he was still pleased that Natalie had showed him her collection.

He was so pleased that his fingers curled around hers, kind of involuntarily; their hands now joined in a holding way rather than a pulling way. And it reminded Dan of when they were in the closet, because neither of them had pulled away then.

Natalie didn't pull away now, either.

**~Amy~**

The idea of Ian picking somewhere for them to eat lunch was kind of terrifying.

Because he was a high-class kind of guy- and what was Amy supposed to wear? She didn't even knew where he was taking her... Sighing, Amy pulled the nicest shirt she owned out of her closet.

It was a soft, emerald green plaid design button down shirt. Amy had worn it... Once, maybe?

She also dug down to the very bottom of her jeans drawer to find her nicest jeans.

Normally, Amy wore jeans that were very worn-in and comfortable and kinda loose. She was just used to dressing that way, accompanying this kind of pants with a similar kind of t-shirt- baggy and worn in. Amy didn't ever want to draw attention to herself, so... That was the way she dressed. And a lot of times, it worked- she was invisible, just as she wanted to be.

However, during the last social adventure that Fiske had planned (a family trip to a hotel for an overnight stay and various workshops in the morning) Natalie Kabra had claimed that Amy's style made her physically sick, and had bought Amy a pair of designer jeans. (Which Amy had never worn. She tried to, honestly, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.)

But now Amy needed to look... Presentable, she figured. She finished dressing and tucked her hair behind her ear, her eyes squeezed shut; she was a bit scared to look in the mirror. It was like when she'd tried on the fancy party dress at the store, the one that Ian had picked out. But a spark of hope rose in Amy. The dress had kinda turned out to look nice on her... Maybe she wouldn't look so bad in this 'nice' outfit.

She looked.

She was rather shocked at her own reflection. She'd spent so long hiding behind clothes that this change, though not too big, seemed rather euphoric. Amy let out a little squeak of excitement. So THIS was why other girls liked shopping.

She LIKED the way she looked.

Sure, when Amy thought about it, it DID kinda make her nervous. The clothes. Because there wasn't anything left to hide behind in this particular outfit. It wasn't revealing or anything- Amy would probably rather die than wear something revealing- but the jeans actually FIT her, like they were supposed to. What was that term? 'Hugging her curves'?

Oh God, Amy thought, her face turning red. Maybe she couldn't do this.

But she reminded herself that it would be a sad day for her if she got kicked out of a fancy restaurant. Besides, it was already embarrassing enough just to be around Ian... She didn't need to be reminded that she wasn't exactly high class right in front of him.

Gritting her teeth and plucking up her courage, Amy walked downstairs, as ready as she'd ever be.

(Which really wasn't all that ready.)

When Amy walked downstairs, Ian was sitting at the kitchen counter, looking at a map.

It looked like one of those maps you get at an airport, with little symbols showing you where restaurants or interesting places were. The symbol for restaurants was a cartoon-y little picture of a fork and a knife. Amy peeked over Ian's shoulder, trying to see where he might be looking so intently.

"I don't deem any of these places acceptable eateries," Ian muttered, noticing Amy was there but still focusing most of his attention on the map. Amy winced. Ian turned around, beginning to ask, "Amy, do you know-"

But he stopped short, staring at her.

Oh my gosh! Amy thought, turning pink within seconds. She'd thought she looked okay in this outfit, but maybe she didn't, because she'd never seen him look so surprised.

"D-d-do you have to STARE?" She stuttered, her eyes widening. She literally felt like running out of the room and changing back to her old comfy jeans. She'd even been more confident in pajama pants than in THIS. Her cheeks still flaming, she crossed her arms and added, "I can go change."

"Don't," Ian said, either not attempting to mask his stare or doing a really bad job with that. Amy hadn't known it was possible to blush so hard.

"Can we just go?" Amy said, completely uncomfortable. Ian seemed to notice her discomfort and coughed slightly, looking away from her.

"Sorry," He muttered. "And yes," He said. He glanced at the map again for a moment, then stood up. "I've picked the best place in town." He paused. "Well, the most expensive anyway." He started for the door, and Amy followed him.

Ian drove the car he'd rented the other day and Amy sat in the passenger's seat. Ian seemed to know where he was going, and the two of them were quiet during the ride there.

Amy swore Ian kept looking at her though.

It was making her skin crawl. Of course she knew this from sneaking glances at him from the corner of her eye... But whatever. She was allowed. Ian looked nice and relaxed, surprisingly, while he drove, and the sun shining brightly through the windshield of the car extra-illuminated his eyes.

Amy was starting to resent the outfit she'd worn. It was making her feel very uncomfortable when Ian kept looking at her like that. But suddenly, something struck her- a realization of sorts. It wasn't really what she was wearing, though she supposed it might have helped. (After all, she herself had admitted in her thoughts earlier that the shirt kinda made her eyes pop.)

What she realized was that Ian... Well, he looked at her a lot. Now her skin was crawling but somehow in a more pleasant way, like tingles spreading up her arms. Because she felt suddenly the impact, completely, of him liking her. She could see it in his eyes, and she realized at that moment that the way he looked at her- well, he ALWAYS looked at her like that. His eyes kind of softened a little bit and sometimes there was a hint of a smile on his lips. He never looked at anyone else that way.

Superb embarrassment flooded through Amy, now even more uncomfortable. Yes, last week she would have agreed with the rest of the world that Ian Kabra didn't care about her. But now she almost felt like asking why she hadn't seen it sooner, as strange as it seemed to Amy that he would like her. The way he'd told her he liked her echoed in her thoughts;

"Amy, I like you... A lot."

It seemed unfair that he was so good looking. The combination of that- because he was so close in the drivers seat- and finally realizing what his glances at her actually meant made her face flush and her hands feel clammy and her heart race a thousand miles a minute.

His light blue shirt seemed to make his dark amber eyes that much darker.

She didn't think Ian realized it, but he did little things while he was driving. He tapped his fingers against the wheel lightly every minute or two; and whenever they hit a red light, he sighed deeply. Once, someone cut him off, and he frowned a concentrated kind of frown, just barely tugging at the corners of his mouth, as if he was so deep in thought he could hardly be bothered to frown at all. He was a good driver. A squirrel ran across the road and he swerved the car smoothly to avoid it.

And of course, every now and then, his gaze flickered over her.

"We're here," Ian said, pulling up to some fancy building that added to Amy's nerves. Ian seemed unaware of everything Amy had just been thinking in the car.

She sure was glad that he wasn't.

They exited the car.

Amy sighed, looking at the polished granite exterior of the building. "Great," She murmured, standing in front of it. "I already don't belong here." She also felt twice as clumsy as she normally might have because of the big cast on her arm from breaking her wrist earlier in the week.

Ian laughed lightly, the sound of it sending shivers up and down her spine. "You'll be fine," He assured her, and he held open the door for her.

**~Sinead~**

"Are you SURE about this place?" Sinead asked, looking around.

She and Hamilton were in some fancy restaurant that had a French name so long, Sinead couldn't even remember the first half of it. She giggled. They seemed tad out of place in there, average teenagers in a fancy place like that... But it was amusing to her. She didn't mind the looks that some people were giving them, though Sinead secretly wished they had gone back to that Diner they'd eaten at on the first day of the week.

They'd been driving around in circles, kind of, looking for some place to have lunch. Sinead had a huge suspicion that Hamilton was lost again- just how they'd ended up at that Diner, anyway- but she didn't say anything about it because she didn't really want to embarrass him.

Sinead leaned back in her chair, staring at Hamilton. She silently initiated a staring contest.

She never lost a good staring contest.

Even staring at Hamilton in a staring contest, Sinead felt thrills of happiness running through her. She felt like she was on the right track right now- just kind of... With everything. She didn't know how long this thing with Hamilton was going to last, or if it would work out- she certainly really WANTED it to- but she felt like she'd learned so much this week by spending so much time with one specific other person.

And she was certain now that no matter what, she had a good friend in Hamilton Holt.

The things he'd said before about her scars... It was like his words were healing them, even though she knew they weren't healing the scars- they were healing her emotionally. She hadn't realized how much it might mean to hear from someone else that the scars didn't make up who she was, and that instead, SHE made up who she was. Her personality. Her. Not marks from the past.

It just filled her with such... Hope.

That was why she'd just laughed off not getting to kiss him a second time. Because in that moment, she, at least, had felt that something more intimate and secret than a kiss had happened between them. And she could happily- and kind of shyly- say that she thought there might be plenty of opportunities to kiss him again.

She did have to say, though, that the interruption of Dan and Natalie's laughter had been a bit odd. First Natalie had been so nice to Sinead and done her hair and makeup earlier in the week- and then Natalie and Dan had run by cracking up? Sinead wondered about that. It seemed out of character. And rather like an absolute miracle just that those two hadn't murdered each other. They seemed like a cat and a dog.

"You're good," Sinead admitted to Hamilton, her eyes starting to feel dry. She wanted to blink, but not as much as she wanted to win. Hamilton was so in concentration that he only grunted in response.

Suddenly, Hamilton's eyes widened (though he still didn't blink). He pointed past Sinead and said, "It's Amy and Ian!" He sounded quite surprised.

Sinead didn't break her gaze off of him. "Like I'd fall for that," She said, her eyes carefully trained. Hamilton blinked. "Hah, I win!" Sinead said triumphantly, allowing a well-earned blink for herself. But Hamilton just pointed past her.

"Well, maybe you'll look now- 'cause it's seriously Amy and Ian." He said, still sounding surprised. He added towards Sinead as an afterthought, "You're quite a stare competition professional."

Sinead turned to look behind her.

It really is them, she thought, as surprised as Hamilton. Amy and Ian... Sinead narrowed her eyes suspiciously, thinking back to her conversation with Ian the day before. In Sinead's head, she judged that it would be approximately 13 seconds before they saw her and Hamilton. In those 13 seconds, Sinead's eyes went to hawk-mode, judging the way Ian was treating Amy.

He was smiling slightly and he said something and Amy laughed.

Sinead could see ridiculously obvious chemistry between them.

"Are they on a DATE?" Hamilton asked sort of incredulously.

"Are WE on a date?" Sinead muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Sinead said, waving the question away.

Then Amy and Ian saw Sinead and Hamilton.

Amy stared, as if she couldn't really process that Sinead and Hamilton were there. It seemed an odd twist that the two pairs were there at the same time. Why had they both gone there? (Hamilton and herself had kind of been like, To heck with it, we'll eat at that there fancy place. But Sinead figured Ian had taken Amy there on purpose, on account of being all high class or whatever.)

Amy gave a hesitant wave, her cheeks turning pink.

"ARE they on a date?" Sinead asked Hamilton. He looked helpless. He shrugged.

"I wouldn't know."

It got worse, because the hostess decided to seat Amy and Ian at the table across from Sinead and Hamilton.

_A/N_

_*Sings* Things are gonna get... Awkward! xD_

_1) If you were an animal, what kind do you think you'd be? (Based on looks or personality?!)_

_2) What character from the 39 Clues do you think you are the most like?_

_3) What was your favorite part of the chapter?_

_4) What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?!_

_*Blows you a kiss* xD Please review!_

_~Lovely_


	32. Going Slowly

_A/N_

**800**_ reviews._

_I don't know what to say. Thank you. T.H.A.N.K.Y.O.U. I know I say this a lot, but I had NOT ever been expecting this when I posted this story. I really, really wasn't. Any every piece of praise or constructive criticism makes me want to jump up and down on my bed or sing into a hairbrush or bake you all brownies or all of the above._

_Special thanks to **MrsJoshHutcherson112**, for telling me the correct home of the Holts. It's actually Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That's very much appreciated. Also special thanks to **The Gone Angel** for reading Ian's POV before I posted it._

_Only _**7**_ chapters left._

_Disclaimer: Be forewarned; there might be randomly super long chapters as this draws to a close. Even though I don't own the 39 Clues, *painful cough* I'm still gonna pour all my effort into this, and as the story winds down and ends with 39 chapters, I'll be putting in all parts I feel are necessary. _

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Going Slowly

**~Ian~**

Ian was NOT pleased that two of his least favorite Cahills were here to crash his date with Amy.

Okay, so, technically this wasn't a date.

At all.

And technically, Sinead Starling and Hamilton Holt had been there first... But Ian didn't really care. His mood was souring more and more by the minute. He glared at the pair, sitting at their table across from his and Amy's. Hamilton's eyes narrowed a bit, but Ian didn't classify that as glaring. Sinead was definitely glaring, though.

Why were those uncivilized people in a semi-NICE restaurant?

Ian crossed his arms, scowling openly. Amy just looked overall embarrassed, a pinkish glow lighting up her face. "We shouldn't like... Go over there, should we?" Amy whispered across to Ian. Beneath the table, Ian felt their legs brushing close to the ankle.

"No!" Ian snapped. "What are they even doing here?" He regarded them suspiciously. Sinead and Hamilton kept sneaking glances at Ian and Amy, too, and they were all close enough that they could have had a conversation with each other.

"What am I doing here?" Amy muttered, stressing the word 'I'. Ian felt slow, painful hurt creep into his thoughts and he looked away from her. Amy looked up from where her eyes had been downcast. She opened her mouth, but it took a moment for sound to actually come out of it. "S-sorry. I didn't mean that- I mean, that's not what I meant." Her eyes were so GREEN, Ian thought, his gaze being magnetically drawn back to hers. She shook her head. "...I'm just not used to fancy places like this."

Ian winced. If Amy thought a 3.5 star restaurant was fancy, then she'd had an even worse life than he'd thought.

"They keep staring at us." Ian said, directing his gaze and the conversation once more to Sinead and Hamilton, who were whispering to each other and shooting glances Ian's way. Ian ignored the tugging sensation he was feeling in his stomach as a result of Amy. His eyes narrowed in assessment, and he shook his head. "THEY like each other?"

Amy looked surprised at his question. "How did you know that?"

Ian snorted. "It's obvious. First the Holt called you the other day and was asking you ridiculous questions about love-" Ian felt his chest tighten- "-And now you can just TELL." He leaned back in his seat, slouching slightly in his bad mood. "They're whispering and laughing and look at how close their fingers are. They want to hold hands." He sounded kind of bitter.

Amy fidgeted, and Ian began to feel a tiny bit bad. He'd wanted this to be... Nice. He just wanted to be with Amy. But no, that stupid Holt and the creepy Starling girl had to be there, romancing it up, or whatever they were doing. He was feeling so sour towards them that he felt like yelling at them to go away. He just... Wanted to be alone with Amy.

Was that REALLY so much to ask?

Ian was a little bit worried that it was.

A waiter dressed in a spotless, black vest and tie came over to take Ian and Amy's orders. Without asking her consent, Ian ordered for both of them in French and the waiter walked away.

"I didn't know you could speak French," Amy said, surprised. She looked at him curiously. "What did you order?"

Ian waved her question away, but in response to the first thing she'd said, he replied with a slight shrug, "I know enough."

The restaurant's lighting was a kind of dim gold, and Amy looked... Perfect. Ian could feel himself starting to stare at her again, but he didn't really try to move his gaze, either. It felt ridiculous to him, in a way, how much his attraction to her had grown in just a little less than one week. Spending so much time with her had fanned a flame and now it was probably burning a little too high. Amy was looking at Ian, too.

But he heard Sinead Starling laugh, and the spell was broken.

Irritation prickled beneath his skin, and he stood up, his eyes flickering like fire. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Amy pale, and she asked, "Ian, what are you doing?"

He didn't answer her and walked a few feet over to where Hamilton and Sinead sat, waiting for their food.

"Do you mind?" Ian asked icily. "There are other people in this restaurant. I know you people don't have much self control, but I'm sure Amy and I would appreciate it if you didn't laugh QUITE so loudly." He paused, letting that sink in for a moment. "And you shouldn't be staring at us, either. That IS considered rude." There was still a deathly hard edge to his words.

Hamilton's expression hardened, and Sinead's face turned red.

"Hey, man. You were looking at us too." Hamilton's voice sounded calm, but it had an edge that matched Ian's. "It just seems kinda weird that we'd end up here at the same time. That's all."

Ian knew that if he provoked Hamilton, it wouldn't be too hard to gear the Holt up for a fight. And if Hamilton wanted to fight, he'd probably win- even Ian had to admit this. Ian thought maybe beating things into a pulp was Hamilton's only talent, if you could call that one. And yet, even though the Holt could probably knock him down with one well-aimed blow, Ian felt unreasonably mad.

"Yes, it is weird. Because YOU don't belong in a place like this." Ian said.

Sinead looked like she might want to deck him in the face, too. She stood up abruptly. From behind him, Ian could hear Amy scrambling to stand up and make her way over. The hostess was, too, seeing a problem arising.

"Hamilton, I think we should just go." Sinead said stiffly. "Obviously staying here will ruin Ian's life, and we can't have that."

Amy reached Ian's side, her face a picture of voiceless horror. Sinead shot Ian a look of anger and then she turned and gently rested a hand on Hamilton's shoulder. Hamilton looked super mad, and for a moment, Ian really did think the bulkier guy was going to swing. But wordlessly he turned and walked out with Sinead, looping his arm through hers.

On their way out, Sinead said something to the hostess and stopped her in her tracks. Then the Holt and the Starling were gone.

Ian sat back down at his table.

Amy followed him, but she didn't sit down. She stared at him.

"Why did you do that?" She asked finally, sounding as horrified as she looked. Ian's stomach twisted into knots. He didn't even feel glad that the others had left. The way Amy was looking at him made him feel bad. Maybe he'd been a little too rude himself? He suddenly felt sick.

"Sorry," He muttered, knowing he wouldn't be able to come up with an answer that Amy would like. "I just didn't want them here. And they were making you uncomfortable. I saw it."

Amy crossed her arms. There was no trace of humor or happiness in her face now. In fact, she looked hurt and embarrassed. "They're my FRIENDS, Ian! It was kind of weird to see them here, yeah. But you shouldn't have done that." Amy finished quietly. She bit her lip. "Sometimes you make it really hard for people to like you, Ian."

Ouch.

That stung. If anyone else had said that to him, he wouldn't have cared. But it was Amy Cahill. She'd said it to him. And it hurt. A lot.

He'd brought it on himself.

He closed his eyes for a moment, his jaws tightly clamped together. He felt a sudden rush of hate towards himself. Because Amy was completely right. He never cared about anyone and he certainly didn't make it easy for anyone to like him. It didn't matter that he wasn't so fond of Sinead Starling or Hamilton Holt -he hadn't treated them right. They were still PEOPLE.

Maybe Amy didn't even really like him, like she'd said she did.

When Ian opened his eyes after almost a minute of silence, Amy's eyes were glistening, threatening to spill tears, and she still chewed on her bottom lip.

Ian sighed and stood up. "Let's go home." He said quietly.

He walked towards the hostesses booth and he threw a few hundred dollars down that had previously been in his pocket, and he simply walked out the door and unlocked the car. He opened the driver's door and climbed inside, slamming the door shut. Inside, Amy seemed to be apologizing to the hostess.

Ian watched her, and his heart stirred in his chest.

Amy made him feel so many different ways. Sometimes she made him feel on top of the world, and other times, she made him feel like such a bad person. He knew she didn't mean to do that- but she was RIGHT. She was right about everything, and now he'd ruined four people's days; Sinead's, Hamilton's, his own, and most unfortunately, hers.

"It'll never work between me and Amy," Ian whispered to himself as Amy was still speaking to the French hostess. His words were so crushing to him that for a moment, he didn't even dare to breath, afraid that with that statement, he'd somehow broken himself.

It would never work between them, ever. Despite what she might think, or what she might have said, she was still the good girl and he was still the bad guy. They didn't go together.

But he was in love with her anyway.

**~Hamilton~**

They were quiet for a long time and Hamilton simply drove, putting miles between that restaurant and himself and Sinead. He sighed and pulled over after about 5 minutes of quiet, and he watched as the sun began to descend in the sky. He pulled over because a) he didn't know where he was going and b) Sinead looked upset.

"He's such a jerk." Sinead muttered, the first of them to speak. Hamilton filled all of his huge lungs with air and then let it all out slowly in a huge sigh before he answered her. They'd been having a fine enough time before, but it had been ruined so abruptly that Hamilton didn't know how to fill the silence, even though he'd stopped driving so that they could talk for a minute. He was glad she'd started off.

"He kind of is... I wanted to hit him for a second there," Hamilton admitted. They were of course talking about Ian. "But... That wouldn't have been... Uh, good. And besides, I don't think he's that bad ALL the time. I mean, did you see that? Right before he came over to our table?" Hamilton shook his head. "I wouldn't have guessed it, but I guess he likes Amy. For real- you could see him getting all mushy over her."

Sinead was stiff as she watched the sun outside in the sky. Hamilton was already loosening up about the ordeal- he tended not to hold grudges about most things for very long- but Sinead still seemed mad. "He DOES like her. I don't get it." She said. "Way earlier, this morning, he asked me a question. He asked me what it meant when a girl stopped talking to you... If I were Amy, I wouldn't talk to him, either," Sinead said. "And I gave him advice and everything. And he just returned my favor by being so rude."

"Well..." Hamilton said slowly. "We could let it bother us, or we could just keep going. We could get food somewhere else, if you want... Go do something. Or we could stay here and talk."

Sinead turned to Hamilton, a grateful look on her face. "No, you're right. We should do something else. I know Ian is rude, I shouldn't let it bother me so much. I guess I'm still just a little worried for Amy. She doesn't deserve for any guy to hurt her..." Sinead trailed off, deep in thought. Then she unbuckled her seat belt and moved closer to Hamilton, carefully resting her head on his chest.

He felt quite pleased with this, a grin growing on his face. In that moment he was glad his dad's car was a mini van, the driver's seat and shot gun seat quite close together. He enjoyed the feeling of her so close to him. She smelled like vanilla soap. "Don't worry," He mumbled. "I told you before- I bet you Amy can hold her own."

"Yeah." Sinead said, and that was it.

She seemed to be done with the subject, a comfortable silence falling over the mini van. They just sat and watched the sun going down for a while.

Ham curled a strand of her hair around his finger, thinking. He felt like he knew Sinead so much better now. She used to be some pretty, almost elusive girl- but now he knew how much more than that she was. He'd never fallen so hard for a girl before, and in a way, that was kind of terrifying. But still so exciting, like climbing Mt. Everest again, or something.

Hamilton couldn't stop smiling. This just felt so nice, just sitting there like that.

But Sinead broke the silence, drawing away from him slightly. "We're taking this slow, aren't we?"

He assumed that by 'this' she meant... Them. Like, together. A thing. An item. A couple. Dating.

Whatever you wanted to call it.

"Yeah, I guess." Hamilton said, taking his time coming up with a response. "We don't really need to rush things. I mean..." Embarrassment tingled beneath his skin. "To be honest, I don't know anything about relationships. You're the first girl I've ever really liked."

He saw his face turn slightly red, and that made him happy.

"You don't need to know much." Sinead said, a bit insistently. She paused for a moment, considering her thoughts inside of her own head. Then she said, "All you need to know is... That you should treat me like a princess." At this last part, she spread her arms widely in a mockingly regal way, posing with her head held high.

Hamilton laughed. "I never would have guessed you were funny at the start of this week." He said appreciatively. He immediately worried that it sounded like he used to think she wasn't cool, or something, but Sinead took it as a compliment, as he'd intended the comment to be.

She smiled. "I guess I am." Sinead laughed and settled back down in her seat, but not before taking his hand in hers. Hamilton felt a smile light up his face. "No, but seriously." She said thoughtfully after another pause of silence. "I get impatient with a lot of things. But I think when it really comes down to it... I'm glad that we're going slowly. I don't want to go fast. Not really."

Hamilton nodded. At some point during the week he'd felt like she wanted to pick up the pace, when he really didn't know how to. But when she said that, he believed her that it was what she wanted. And she was happy- which made him happy. "I'm glad, too."

**~Natalie~**

"This is hard," Natalie complained, not even really trying to tie the blown-up balloon in her hands.

Dan rolled his eyes lightly. "Try this," He suggested. "Pinch the end of the balloon with one hand and wrap it around two fingers on your other hand." Dan demonstrated on his own balloon. "Then you just pull the end through."

Natalie tried, but she still couldn't get it. Huffing, she let her balloon go, done attempting the tedious task of tying it. The balloon made a ridiculous, high pitched squeak as it rocketed out of her hand and flew 5 feet, losing all it's air and stopping when it smacked Dan in the face. Natalie covered her mouth in surprise, a laugh building behind her fingers.

"Sorry," She said, giggling.

They had it all planned out. Since the weather tomorrow was supposed to be excellent all the way into nighttime- and Natalie had checked and double checked, because she wanted this to be perfect- the party was going to be a half inside, half outside deal, and Natalie was way excited about making it as classy as she could.

Which is, she thought, glancing around at the room she was in, a big challenge.

The snacks and drinks would all be inside, in the kitchen and the living room of Grace's house. The living room was currently what Natalie and Dan were working on- they'd moved all the furniture to either against the wall, to make room for dancing, or to another room, for even more space.

(Well, Dan had done most of the furniture moving, but Natalie had called words of encouragement every now and then from where she sat filing her nails. Dan shot her dirty looks and claimed she was lazy, and when the last chair that needed to be moved was the one Natalie was in, he'd pushed it out of the room with her still sitting on it.)

The outside portion would be for anyone who wanted a bit of air or a stroll through the memorial garden dedicated to Grace and other brave souls who'd given their lives for a contribution of good to the world. The plan was to have loud music inside the house, and leave the front doors open so that the music would spill over to the outside. Inside, the decorations were balloons and fancy lights, and outside, there were more lights, lining a pathway through the garden and down the driveway so that it wasn't too dark.

Dan and Natalie had set up the outside, first, and now they were working on the living room, and Natalie wanted this room to look the best. She already hung some lights and some fancy silver garlands that had been in the shed out back. As gross as the word 'shed' was, there had actually been some decent decorations in there.

Dan laughed, plucking the deflated balloon off the bride of his nose. "You're terrible," He told Natalie. She just smirked.

"You know what?" Natalie said. "I think we've done a lot. We've earned a break. Or at least, I have. I think I'm going to get some pink lemonade. You can stay here and finish the balloons, though."

Dan rolled his eyes a second time. "Gee," He said. "Thanks."

But Natalie turned and headed for the kitchen, knowing he would follow her.

Natalie took the container of pink lemonade out of the fridge, and when she turned around, Dan had already taken out two glasses and lined them up. Natalie poured and pushed one of the cups to Dan, who sat on the other side of the counter.

"We need to make a music playlist," Natalie said thoughtfully. She eyed Dan. "Do you want to do that?" She figured if he did, she could kind kind of secretly look over it before the party, and detract a few foul songs she knew would be on there, and add a few slow ones.

What? She didn't want Dan dancing like an animal for the ENTIRE party.

Dan looked back at her skeptically, then he grinned. "Sure, Nellie can help me." Dan said. Natalie winced slightly and Dan continued. "But we just did like, a TON of party stuff. Since we're on a break, wanna talk about something else?" He said.

"But there's so much to do..." Natalie said, running through a list of everything left to do in her head.

Dan cleared his throat and did a terrible impression of Natalie's voice, which including a terrible British accent: "'There's SO much to do, Dan! We simply cannot take a break under any circumstances. Cheerio! I don't care if the house is falling apart, we MUST finish party planning! Cheerio!'" It was very clear he wanted a break. Maybe she was overworking him. That would explain the terrible impression.

He's cracking under the pressure, Natalie thought sympathetically.

But she recoiled at his words. "Ew, Dan, that was really messed up. I do NOT talk like that. And for your information, being from London doesn't mean you add 'cheerio' to the end of every sentence!"

Dan snickered. "I know, I'm just kidding. But seriously, this IS a break, right?"

"Right." Natalie confirmed. But another party-related thought popped into her head anyway, and it was so momentous to her that she actually gasped aloud. "Dan..." She said slowly, her eyes widening. "You DO have a tuxedo, right?"

Dan had finished his lemonade and was pressing the top of the cup around his mouth. He pulled the cup away, and there was a slight red right around his mouth. "A... WHAT?" Dan asked, his eyes widening, too.

"A tux," Natalie said impatiently. "This party is totally formal. Dress and tux rental are on Fiske." Natalie dug the note out of her pocket and showed Dan the section regarding what Fiske would be doing to help out; which was notifying everyone of the party and of the dress requirements. Dan paled.

"I don't have a tux," He said. "And I really don't want one."

Natalie slapped the counter, shaking her head. "You need one," She said. "You HAVE to wear one. Let's go out right now and get you one." She stood up, taking this matter quite seriously. There was a look of severe determination on her face.

Dan frowned. "I thought we were on a break."

"We ARE." Natalie assured him. "We'd better hurry before all the good stores close for the day!"

Natalie walked outside hurriedly, grabbing her lightweight jacket, which was by the front door. Dan hurried to follow her, and she heard him mutter, "She's crazy," as he shoved on his Converse shoes.

Natalie didn't mind that comment, though. She would not have Dan, her co-party planner, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt at their party. That would be so UN-classy. Besides, she was secretly very excited to see Dan in something high caliber. If he'd managed to make her find him attractive in the same old clothes he always wore, then how good was he going to look in a tuxedo? This was EXCITING.

Natalie walked along the sidewalk, Dan catching up to her. "We'll have to walk the whole way," Dan said, slightly out of breath from chasing her. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "The cab company around here always takes a weekend off after the fair."

Natalie frowned. She'd been intending to hail a cab once they reached the bottom of Grace's driveway. She cursed silently, hoping her shoes would take no damage from so much walking. "Fine." She paused for a moment, stopping. 'How do you know that, anyway?"

Dan smiled slightly. "Attleboro isn't a very big city," He offered. "I grew up here. I know everything there is to know."

Natalie nodded, and they resumed their walking, her carefully, avoiding cracks in the sidewalk that might add to the sad scuffing of her shoes, and him with his hands still in his pockets. As they walked quietly- and Dan took the lead, seeming to know somewhere they were going to, maybe the shopping outlets they'd gone to the other day?- a sudden thought struck Natalie's mind.

It was the subject of her liking Dan.

It was still hard to like him. Less than a week ago she would have laughed at the very idea until her sides split. But she'd been wrong before, about Dan- about herself, too. She was wrong about things like standards and who she was. Dan liked her, and he made her feel pretty.

He was such a great guy. Really. Just his niceness and overall personality. She was still disappointed in herself for not telling him that she liked him back, but maybe she just still wasn't over the surprise of him liking her. Dan would make SOME girl really happy one day. But Natalie just wasn't sure if that girl could ever be her.

He made her question a lot of things, and sometimes that was good, but sometimes it was bad. The simple act of them walking side by side now could have been an example of their obvious differences and backgrounds, with Dan in his jeans and Converse and Natalie in her dress and high heels.

But there was still so much of her that wanted to tell him that she liked him back.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and when she opened them, she'd decided that if she didn't decide to tell Dan she liked him by the end of the night, she never would.

_A/N_

_If this story actually makes it all the way to 1,000 reviews, I. WILL. SCREAM. ~I dunno. Sounds far fetched. But wanna help and try, anyway? xD_

_1) I hope you know that I don't think I've ever really written a story that didn't take until the end for two of the characters to get together :/ For me- and most people, I think- it's the chase that's so exciting. Like, WHEN will so-and-so finally get together? -But for this story, I tried something different. Hamilton and Sinead are basically together, and so, what I'd like to know is- how am I doing with their relationship? (Is it still interesting to you?)_

_2) Do you wear makeup?_

_3) What is one thing you couldn't live without? (*I say music. Or air.*)_

_4) Truth or Dare? xD_

_THANK YOU!_

_~Lovely_


	33. Miss Kabra Demands an Alteration

_A/N_

_OMG! _**Wow**_. When I mentioned trying to make it to 1,000 reviews, some of you guys who I'd never seen review before seemed to have awoken from a deep, dark slumber, coming out of their caves to review. Gosh. Gosh gosh gosh- I am SO excited, because now this seems like an achievable goal. I cannot thank you all enough- we've already made it past _**850**_!_

_:D :D I can't stop smiling! Lol_

_I'd also like to thank everyone who gave me input on Sinead and Hamilton. Well... I listened. And trust me, things AREN'T all that perfect yet... *mwahahaha* Lol._

_Only _**6**_ chapters left._

_Disclaimer: "Jonah?" I whisper in the quiet, looking for my pop-star buddy. I see him- he is hiding in the corner of the room. He hisses at me. I roll my eyes and ask, "Would you like to do the disclaimer?" But his reply is so foul that I back away slowly. "Okay..." I mutter, searching for that doctors phone number in my purse. "I guess that was a no..."_

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: Miss Kabra Demands an Alteration

**~Dan~**

Dan Cahill was bored.

He was wearing a suit and standing with his arms out so that the tailor could take his measurements.

The very first store Natalie had made Dan go into had had the suit she decided was perfect for him. "It just needs a bit of an alteration here and there," she'd said after making Dan try it on. And while paying for the suit, Natalie had asked where the nearest tailoring business might be, and the cashier had replied that the nearest was just around the block, and they could catch the store before it closed if they hurried.

So Dan had followed Natalie- who was quite a fast runner in her heels, gosh- down and around the block. The person manning the store at closing hour didn't seem so pleased to help them, but Natalie grabbed Dan's arm and showed the woman his Spider-Man watch; and had reminded her that it was exactly 7 minutes before the closing hour advertised on the sign, and therefore, they had 7 minutes to talk business.

The woman was now grudgingly taking Dan's measurements.

"We'll need to take in the sleeves a bit." The woman said, eyeing her tape measure for a moment before taking a note down on her iPad. Natalie made a disapproving "Tsk" sound.

"The real problem," she said pointedly, "-is the lapel." Natalie shot Dan a look like, God, why doesn't this lady know how to do her job? To which Dan mouthed, I don't know! And to which he thought, What the heck is a lapel?

"I was getting to that," the woman replied to Natalie stiffly. She rolled up her tape measure and placed it on a nearby counter. She took another note on her iPad, then turned to Dan, who was still holding out his arms. "You can put your arms down now." The woman said, sounding as bored as Dan felt. She turned to Natalie, who was obviously the authority here. "Listen, miss. Is there a certain time you'd like to pick this up next week?" The tailor glanced at her iPad, skimming her finger across it a few times. "It looks like the suit should be ready by next Tuesday."

Dan thought that the look on Natalie's face was kind of funny when the woman said that- Natalie's eyes were bugging out like crazy. He snickered.

"We don't have until Tuesday." Natalie said, frowning. "I would like the alterations done now, please. We don't mind waiting." Natalie crossed her arms, and her expression became even more annoyed when the woman laughed.

"Sorry, miss. It's next Tuesday or not at all- I have a full list of alterations to do, and yours is at the bottom of that list." Her eyes narrowed and she glanced at her own watch. "I'll need your contact information, and then I have to go. It's already past closing time."

Natalie's eyes narrowed, too. She looked mad. Dan rolled his eyes, but he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think it looks fine," he said, gesturing towards himself with his other hand. "I can wear this to the party. No big deal." He said. Natalie ignored him, shaking his hand off and opening her purse. She pulled out a huge wad of money.

"We'd like the suit by tonight, please."

The tailor froze for a moment, eyeing the money. Then she glanced at her watch again. She sighed, taking the bait. "Alright, miss..."

"Kabra."

"...Kabra. Have your friend change, and I'll do the alterations now." Her eyes wandered back to the money in Natalie's hand. "While you prepay me."

Natalie smirked, glad to be getting what she wanted. "Of course," she said, and she handed her wad of money to the tailor, who greedily took it. The tailor practically pushed Dan into the changing room again in her haste to earn the money she'd been given.

"Man," Dan muttered. But he was happy to change out of the suit and back into his usual, more comfortable jeans and t-shirt. Dan folded up the suit and walked back out. He handed the neatly folded clothes to the tailor, who practically wailed when she saw that Dan had put crease lines in the expensive fabric.

"I'll iron it out," she promised hastily to Natalie, now eager to please the girl who'd given her a sizable chunk of money. Dan sat down next to Natalie on a waiting bench and the tailor announced that she'd be in the other room, working on the tux. "It'll be about an hour or so," she called, disappearing with the suit.

Dan sighed. "Okay, Nat. It's bad enough that I have to wear a tux... But I swear, it fits me fine. Why did you have to go through all that trouble? Now we have to WAIT." Dan shuddered. He HATED to wait. Hey- was he imagining it, or did Natalie's cheeks turn a little red when he called her 'Nat'?

"Because," Natalie said dramatically, sweeping her long hair over her shoulder, "You need to look perfect tomorrow night. Well... As close to perfect as I can get you." Her nose wrinkled in distaste, but Dan could hear a tiny hint of teasing in her tone. He nudged her shoulder, smiling and rolling his eyes.

"And why," he asked, "-do I have to look perfect? Or as close to perfect as you can get me?"

Natalie gave Dan a look that he interpreted to mean 'duh' to go along with her words. "Because I'll consider it a great accomplishment if you don't show up looking like a homeless bum..." She looked at Dan thoughtfully. "It'll help to make me feel less like I've wasted a week of my life."

They both laughed.

He didn't care what she was saying, 'cause it was funny. The best part was that she was kidding, and he knew she was. She didn't mean what she was saying, she was just teasing. It felt great to kid around with her like that. Again, he was glad that he hadn't messed anything up between them.

He really liked spending time with her, even just as friends.

Their laughter died down and she looked brilliantly pretty, for some reason. The lighting in the building was kind of flicker-y and fluorescent and therefore, probably didn't seem like it'd be the most attractive setting for anyone. But she looked awesome. She always did...

"Can I tell you something?" Natalie asked suddenly, her gorgeous eyes widening. Dan nodded dumbly for a moment before finding his tongue.

"Uhm- yeah. Sure. Anything."

Natalie scooted closer, and Dan felt their legs brushing slightly. For a long moment, she was quiet. What does she want to tell me? Dan wondered. She was making him feel annoyingly nervous. And she sure was taking her time. What did she want to tell him?

Her movement was slow, but it felt so surprising and quick to Dan. Natalie slipped her hand into his, and they both stared downwards for a long 0.2 of a second before she looked up at him, her amber eyes meeting his green. Her hand- in his. Their fingers twined. Suddenly, with the intensity of a punch to the gut, Dan realized what felt to him a groundbreaking discovery.

When he'd told Natalie that he liked her, he'd just assumed she didn't like him back. But now it was fully coming to him- she hadn't said anything at all.

She hadn't said she liked him back. But she hadn't said she HADN'T, either.

Dare he wish it... But maybe she... She'd never said otherwise...?

Dan felt knots twisting up his stomach, a question forming on his lips. "What did you want to tell me?" He forced out nervously, so quietly that it would just barely not be categorized as a whisper. A quiet hint of annoyance graced her features, but it slowly turned to amusement, probably at his inferior boy mind, or something. For a moment, she didn't say a word.

"This." She responded calmly, inching even closer. She rested her head against his shoulder, the way she had when they were stuck in that closet. But this time, there were no excuses Dan could make up for her action. He couldn't say, Oh, she was just uncomfortable... Because they weren't stuck in a closet. Moving closer to him was clearly an action she had a choice in making. Dan swore his heart had stopped beating.

"What?" He muttered dazedly.

Natalie sighed, her mouth close to his ear. "Don't make me SAY it," she murmured.

Don't make her say it.

It didn't make any sense. She was like, Natalie Kabra, aspiring ruler of the universe or whatever. And he was Dan. Just Dan, Dan Cahill. It didn't really make any sense that she... That she could actually... Maybe...

You know what? Dan thought to himself. I don't really care.

A ridiculous grin spread across his features, and he moved away from her only slightly, just so that he could see her face. Just to make sure she wasn't going to jump away from him and yell, "PSYCH!". But she wasn't. He imagined the sound of a bell going off in his head as it all clicked into place.

"Do you mean that you..." He wondered aloud.

"I told you not to make me say it," she muttered in response, sounding irritated. But Natalie was smiling, too.

Dan felt like pulling the strings on one of those party popper things. Except he didn't have one. So instead, still grinning, he moved in close to her again and whispered in her ear, "You just got, like, 14 times cooler."

Her laugh had never sounded so pretty.

**~Amy~**

The silence seemed to be getting to Ian.

He was driving Amy home, but Amy was certain that they were lost, seeing as they'd been driving around for nearly an hour and they still hadn't arrived at the Cahill house. But neither of them ever said a word, except for the few times Ian muttered some unfriendly words at other drivers.

This in-the-car scenario seemed so different to Amy than the one they'd been in earlier. A few hours ago, Amy had admired Ian's driving skills while sunlight poured through the windshield, and they'd been sneaking glances at each other. Ian had been concentrated on the road, merely frowning thoughtfully whenever another driver did something that was potentially perilous.

It was different now. It was dark out, and Ian's temper with other drivers seemed to be growing shorter and shorter. They also seemed to be so out of the way that Amy didn't even recognize where they were, at least not in the darkness. Amy stifled a wince, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging her legs.

Amy felt tired and kind of numb. She hadn't even really processed what had happened at the restaurant. It just made her feel so... Upset. It had felt like, in that moment, that she'd had to choose- between her friends and Ian. And that wasn't a choice that she should have to make.

The Cahills had come to mean the world to Amy- all of them. Sinead and Hamilton were good people who'd probably had their days ruined by Ian being a jerk for no reason.

She was rethinking her feelings about him.

When she'd seen the damage his words had caused, Sinead and Hamilton actually leaving because they were done with him acting that way... Well now she was worried that she was having a change of heart. She still fully believed that Ian was a good person. But she meant what she'd said- that he made it hard for other people to like him. He was still so rough around the edges, and she wasn't sure if that was something she could deal with.

As much as she felt wrong to think it, she really, really cared what her friends thought. She couldn't ever picture herself... Dating Ian, or anything like that, without consent from her friends. Some of that was hesitation and peer pressure and all of that junk, but the rest of it was that she really genuinely didn't want to date someone who might be mean to her friends.

Wasn't there some old saying about that? Amy thought, and she struggled to remember. Oh- it was something like, Don't judge a person by the way they treat you- judge a person by the way they treat your waiter.

What that meant was that sometimes, it didn't matter how nicely someone treated you if they treated someone they deemed 'below them' badly.

Amy sighed, and it was so quiet in the car that she felt like her sigh was loud. Suddenly, Ian pulled off of the road, anger flashing in his eyes. Amy almost screamed at the abrupt movement in the car, her eyes wide, but she was as silent as she had been before; they were fine, it had just been sudden. The car coming to a full stop, Ian hit the steering wheel with a fist and slumped back into his seat, crossing his arms.

"W-what was that for?" Amy asked, feeling slightly shaken, her heart hammering in her chest.

Ian's anger- whatever it was at- seemed to slowly dissolve, and he relaxed slightly, letting out a long sigh before replying. "I just wanted to say something."

"You could have just said it!" Amy cried. "I almost had a heart attack!"

"Right," Ian muttered, fidgeting slightly. "Sorry about that." He was quiet for almost a minute, looking out the windshield of the car. Other cars passed them, making lights dance outside of Amy's car window.

Maybe I was a little too harsh earlier? Amy wondered. She felt like she'd flat out told him that no one liked him. She'd done no such thing, really, but she FELT that way. Besides, what she had said hadn't seemed so encouraging towards him being a better person. Amy realized Ian seemed ready to talk now, and she looked over at him, anxiousness creeping into all of her thoughts. No, she thought, slight anger sneaking up on her, too. He'd been SO rude to Sinead and Hamilton.

"Amy, I'm sorry." Ian said. Amy stiffened for a moment. He sounded like he really meant it. But that didn't change the fact that he'd DONE what he had. What if the next time he didn't want people around, he was just as rude? She said nothing, thinking all of this, until Ian said, "Really, Amy. I shouldn't have done that."

Amy shook her head slowly, her eyes meeting his. "It's not ME you need to apologize to." She said gently. His eyes were watching her so intently, an emotion displayed there that Amy didn't quite understand. She pressed on anyway. "It's Sinead and Hamilton."

"You're right," he said with a sigh. "But I'm sorry anyway."

Amy nodded at him, accepting his apology.

For a moment, she looked out the window and thought to herself. At least he was sorry and he meant it...

Thinking of Ian still tied her stomach in knots. DID she like him, after all? It had been so hard to admit to herself that she did in the first place, because she was scared of getting... Well, hurt. But she had decided- and her choice was that she did like him. She'd thought she had it all figured out, but his actions today had made her decisions now difficult. Amy turned to say something to Ian, but she jumped a bit in her seat, realized he'd moved closer to her.

"Is this going to go anywhere?"He asked her quietly. Amy felt stunned at his closeness, and for a moment, she thought he was referring to the car. But Ian waved a finger lightly between them, his voice sounding calm but twinged with a hint of maybe... Sadness. "You and I?" He asked.

Amy really didn't know the answer to that question.

He still made her heart beat a mile a minute and he still made her legs feel like jell-o. But was that enough? Was he someone she actually really cared about... In that way?

There was a surprising amount of sadness in his eyes. He reached up with a hand to carefully brush her hair out of her face. "You're beautiful," he whispered. "But you hide behind your hair too much."

Amy's eyes were wide and she wondered if this would be a good time to ask him what the heck he was doing. But of course her mouth couldn't form any words, her vocal cords just completely failing her. (Though maybe that was for the best, because if they had worked at all, she'd be stuttering like crazy.)

He was leaning in.

Her heart stopped in her chest, and she stopped along with it, completely, utterly frozen. This was either like something out of a movie or a nightmare. Or maybe it was both? Amy could feel nothing but confusion running through her.

Just barely, barely so, his lips touched hers. Just a light brush, almost- like in Korea.

It was not a real kiss, because he moved away from her. They were still close, but not as much as they had just been only a moment before.

"You don't want to kiss me, do you?" Ian asked her quietly. There was no anger in his voice, or even hurt. Just calm and quiet, his eyes looking completely honest. She wondered vaguely how he could be so calm and in control all the time. Just as suddenly as he'd been close to her, he'd moved away... If he liked her, did he feel all those sparks, too?

But he was right.

Amy turned away from him, towards her window, suddenly feeling choked up. It didn't seem fair that there were two sides to Ian. She liked him so much when they were alone- she could see the good in him. But other people, it seemed, always brought out the worst in him. And there were a ton of other people in their lives. Amy didn't know if she could handle that. She suddenly felt quite grateful that he hadn't kissed her, even though there were parts of her that still wanted him to. If he'd kissed her, she probably physically wouldn't have the willpower to tell him she didn't like him that way- no, not that she didn't.

That she couldn't.

"You're r-right." She whispered, still unable to look his way. But she could feel his eyes on her and tears threatening to fall behind her eyes, stinging them, this threat for the second time today. "Can we go home?" She added on, barely choking it out.

Ian said nothing.

He simply drove them home.

**~Sinead~**

Sinead sat on the couch of the guesthouse's living room. Her fingers flew across the keyboard of her laptop computer as she typed away, the corners of her mouth curving downwards in concentration of what she was writing. She only half heard Hamilton's exaggerated sigh of boredom.

"Hey Sinead?" Hamilton said. They had driven home after a long time of sitting together in the car, and now they were chillaxing and Sinead was on her computer doing something she did often; writing in her digital journal. It was a software she'd designed herself, and she loved it- it was a nice, easy way to keep track of her thoughts, feelings and ideas, and she felt very certain that not even Ned or Ted- well, maybe them, if they tried hard enough, but whatever, nobody else- could figure out the codes necessary to unlock the content of everything she'd written there. Sinead looked up at Ham.

"Yeah?" She muttered, still a bit distracted from her typing, her fingers poised above the keyboard. Hamilton rolled his eyes, looking annoyed, but there was a playful spark there and she knew he really wasn't all that annoyed.

"Do you want to DO something?" He asked her.

Sinead rolled her eyes back. "We ARE doing something. I'm writing and you're..." Well, he really wasn't doing much. She giggled. "Sitting there." She snickered along with her words, and he laughed.

"I MEANT do you want to do something a little more two-way?" He suggested. "As in, both of us? Doing something? Together?" He added. Sinead reached forward and tugged on the right pull of his hoodie strings, evening the two sides out. She sighed before she answered him, her hands finally falling away from their position above the keyboard.

"Sorry, you're right. I just like to write down all my ideas and stuff, and I haven't been doing much of that this week." She patted him on the head, smirking slightly. "Your fault," she added. "But don't feel bad about it." She moved away from him, but he grabbed her hands, smiling.

"You ignored me for a while," he said. "Now you have to make up for it."

They both moved closer, and their lips met.

This kiss was a little different than the first. For one thing, there was so much less shyness. There was more of a clear, open understanding between them, and she could feel that through the kiss, and it made her happy.

This kiss was more steady, and Sinead could feel it all the way down to her toes. Her stomach clenched in nervousness, even now, but it was a good kind of nervousness, and she was pleased that he had taken the initiative to kiss her again. She was glad that they were taking things slowly. But that didn't mean they couldn't, like, kiss; and she felt sparks or fireworks or whatever it was that you were supposed to feel.

She felt it.

They broke apart, and she silently cursed herself for being so silly, for feeling dizzy from a kiss like that. She knew her face was probably on fire, but at least she wasn't the only one- Hamilton seemed to be modeling 'tomato' as well. But he looked so pleased with himself, so proud, or something, for kissing her. "Well that was... Nice." He said, grinning.

Sinead's face burned more. "Shut up," she muttered, and she made herself a promise that she'd have to work on the way he made her feel; it wasn't that she didn't enjoy it, it was just that she couldn't possibly stand to have one person create such a complete GIRL out of her. Not ALL the way. No, she decided, next time we kiss, I'll be the one grinning when we move away.

There was a moment of quiet, and then- still smiling- Hamilton tried to turn things less awkward.

He eyed the computer in her lap, which was turned slightly away from him (on purpose, of course). "What were you writing, anyway?" Hamilton asked, curiosity obvious in his tone.

"I record a lot of my thoughts," she confessed. "A lot of ideas go through here." She tapped a finger to her temple. "And I don't want to lose track of any of my thoughts. It's better to scrap an idea for being stupid later than to forget it now and spend time trying to remember what the idea was later."

Hamilton nodded. "That's cool. But you really have to go all Ekat on everything, don't you?" He had a bit of a smirk now, too. "You can't just use paper, you've got to do it on a computer. Typical Ekaterina."

"Hey!" Sinead said indigently. "This is safer." She patting the computer lightly. "I can put passcodes and locks on this. Much more convenient." She smiled at him.

"Why, are you hiding something?" Hamilton asked, raising and eyebrow slightly. "Some top-secret take-over-the-world invention?"

"Nope." Sinead replied. "I keep a lot of invention plans and ideas on here, yeah. But I also just record my thoughts sometimes, and how my day went. And it just gets kinda private. You know?" She asked, feeling silly. But she felt safe around him, and like he wouldn't judge her for kind of having a diary. Sorta. Well, the Ekat equivalent of a diary... Hamilton nodded at her words.

"That's cool," he said, with a bit of a smile. "So... Did you write anything about me in there?"

Sinead's face flared up red right away. "Maybe..." She muttered. Seeing the look on his face, she quickly added, "But you are not EVER going to see what I wrote, so... Keep on dreaming." She laughed at the new expression replacing his older one. When he responded to her, his voice was tinged with a whiny sound.

"C'mon," he begged. "Show me!"

Sinead laughed. "Never," she replied. She set her laptop down on the coffee table and stood up, still laughing at Hamilton's expression. "I'm going to go to the bathroom, okay?" She said. He nodded, and for a moment, their gazes felt magnetically stuck together; it was easy to get lost in his blue eyes. Sinead tore her gaze away, awkwardly coughing. What was I about to do? She wondered. Oh, yeah. Go to the bathroom. Sinead left, calling, "Be back in a sec!"

In the bathroom, Sinead hummed a little tune, allowing herself to be happy- like, really happy- about that kiss. (Because she was alone and therefore could not be made fun of.) She washed her hands and paper-toweled them dry, still humming. She walked out of the bathroom eagerly, fine with the idea of getting right back to Hamilton.

But she didn't like what she saw.

For a moment, Sinead just stared.

Hamilton appeared to be looking at her laptop.

She marched over, already feeling a wave of tears coming on. "What are you doing?!" She yelled. Hamilton looked up abruptly, surprise registering on his face. He apparently hadn't expected her to come back so soon. Sinead ripped the laptop out of his hands and held it tight against her chest, feeling a quick-to-start sensation of boiling anger. Sinead was not exactly someone who appreciated snoops.

"I was just-"

She cut him off, and embarrassment coursed through her. She'd forgotten to activate the passcodes when she'd left for the bathroom. She'd been a bit... Distracted. It made her feel so mad to think that like 3 minutes ago she'd been kissing him and enjoying it. "I TOLD you you couldn't see what I wrote!" She yelled. "You don't look at people's private stuff!"

He looked stunned, but she didn't give him much of a chance to say anything. She felt like she could hear the blood pounding in her ears.

She wanted him to justify himself, but at the same time, she didn't want to hear anything he had to say. She wanted to slap him across the face; she'd specifically said no one could see what she wrote because it was PRIVATE. But he'd looked anyway. Instead of doing really any of this, she just let out a disgusted sigh and walked away.

"Sinead, wait!" Hamilton called.

But she didn't wait.

_A/N_

_1) This is a _**very important**_ question- _**WHEN**_ should the story end? By that, I mean should the story end on the last day of the week, or should it end the next morning, when all the Cahills are leaving to go back home? (I really would like to know this, since I'm going to do 39 chapters. I need to be able to space things out correctly since the next update will be the start of the last day. And don't say "I don't care", PICK ONE! xD)_

_2) How was Amy's POV today? To be perfectly honest, I am COMPLETELY incapable of writing ANY romance without laughing through the entire thing. I just feel so ridiculous writing it, I don't know xD How did it turn out?! Lol_

_3) THIS CHAPTER WAS SO FREAKING LONG. LOOK AT WHAT I DO FOR YOU. xD Did you like the length?! (You'd better say yes! xD xD)_

_4) Why do you think Ham did what he did?! *spooky fingers* (Is Sinead just a hothead, or was she TOTALLY right to get mad at him for snooping?) *this is for me to know* *and you not to- at least until the next update*_

_~Lovely_


	34. Can You Not?

_A/N_

_I am so sorry to anyone who lost track- _**this update is the start of DAY 7**_.__The overwhelming majority of you wished for a send-off of the next day- so, chapter 39, as like, 99.9% of you requested, will be the morning of the 8th day, when everyone is going home, as the week is then over._

_As usual, a gigantic thank-you to all the readers and reviewers, I think I am in love with ALL OF YOU..._

_^That was weird... xD_

_Only_** 5**_ chapters left._

_THIS CHAPTER NAME REMINDS ME OF TUMBLR_

_Disclaimer: "Jonah Wizard, everybody!" I yell, pushing the button that lights up my 'Applause' sign. Jonah steps out onto the stage beside me, sighing and rubbing his wrists, which I have only just cut his handcuffs off of. "Lovely doesn't own the 39 Clues," he mutters, and I give him a treat for being such a good boy._

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: Can You Not...?

**~Hamilton~**

Ham was not in a good mood, and not even toaster waffles could help him.

He stood up from where he'd been seated at the kitchen counter in Grace's house, abandoning his breakfast. Curiosity killed the Holt, Hamilton though miserably.

Last night he'd been such an idiot, reading Sinead's laptop like that. But he'd felt like it was an opportunity to maybe understand her better. Even now, Sinead still seemed shrouded in mystery, or something. It was just the way she WAS. It was her. She was mysterious.

But he still shouldn't have done what he'd done. 'I wanted to know' was not a good enough excuse. She had a right to be mad, but she hadn't stayed to listen to him try to apologize. (And just apologize. It didn't seem like there was any way to justify what he'd done.)

So, he'd simply left her alone to cool off a bit, and gone back to the Cahill house, where Dan was snoring ridiculously loudly in the room they were sharing.

I'm ready to apologize, now, Hamilton thought. I need to. Like right now.

He walked to the front door and opened it, and he sprinted across the driveway and across the grass to the guesthouse. Jonah and Phoenix Wizard were in the kitchen with Sinead's brothers, Ned and Ted. But Hamilton was not looking for any of them- he just wanted Sinead.

He circled around, ignoring 'hello's from everyone. He peered into the living room and Sinead was not there. She's in her room, he thought. The one she's sharing with Natalie. He bounded upstairs, not really knowing what room that might be. But he saw Natalie in the hall, just leaving a room with a blue door.

"Natalie!" He yelled, nearly scaring the girl out of her wits with his loud voice. Natalie jumped, then looked severely annoyed.

"What?"

"Have you seen Sinead?"

Natalie rolled her eyes, slipping past Hamilton in the narrow hallway. "She's in our room, duh!"

Hamilton let her pass and then hurried to the door Natalie had walked out of, feeling incredibly nervous all of the sudden. And stupid. He felt very stupid- because even when he'd been dumb enough to look at Sinead's computer, he hadn't even seen ANYTHING. Well, except this passage of writing where Sinead was talking about her favorite part of the movie The Notebook, or something.

His hands were sweaty. He knocked on the door. Before he even said his name, Sinead called out, sounding annoyed,

"I don't want to talk to you, Hamilton!"

She must have heard me yelling at Natalie, Hamilton thought miserably. He cleared his throat. "Can we talk?" He asked, his voice wavering. He cursed himself silently. There was a long pause before he heard anything, and then the door opened slightly, and Sinead peered out.

"What is there to talk about?" Sinead demanded. "You looked at my computer!"

Both of them winced.

"I know," Hamilton said, wishing she'd open the door all the way so that they could have a proper conversation. "And I'm really sorry. I know I shouldn't have done that." He sighed, releasing a pent-up breath. He hoped she would forgive his total idiocy... And he'd promised himself that he wouldn't mess up things between them, because she didn't deserve that.

But what had he done?

Messed everything up.

He waited for a response from Sinead. But her face seemed emotionless. Finally, she opened the door slightly wider, and her face turned to a mixture of hurt and embarrassment. "What did you see on there?" She asked quietly.

"Nothing!" Hamilton said quickly. "I mean, just that you like girly movies, or something. That's it. I swear." He winced again. "I really am sorry. It was dumb, and I'll never do ANYTHING like that again." He paused. "Really, I mean it!"

Sinead looked horrified at what he said he'd seen. "Oh my GOD," she whispered. "NOBODY knows that about me! Not even Ned and Ted!" Hamilton became equally as horrified as her when he saw her eyes begin to water. Please don't cry, he thought, feeling horrible.

"I'm an idiot," he muttered. He pushed the door all the way open, stepping a little closer to her. "Sinead, I-"

"No!" Sinead said, clenching hands clenched into fists at her side. Her face was growing more red, and he could see that she was exceptionally embarrassed. "That... I can't believe you did that! There was a reason nobody knows that about me!"

Hamilton frowned. "It's not something to be embarrassed about," he said calmly, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I don't care if you like movies like that. It doesn't make you any less cool."

"Well... I care!" Sinead shot back, her eyes still watering. She shook his hand off of her shoulder. "I trusted you not to look, and you did anyway." She said, her voice becoming more quiet towards the end of her words. Hamilton felt bad. This was kind of all his fault... And he could tell she really was taking a blow to her pride now. He sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Saying that doesn't FIX it. How am I supposed to trust you?" Sinead said, a fire flickering behind her eyes. Her next words were quiet and unsure and sad, but they stung like crazy. "I don't know, Hamilton. We said we were taking everything slow, but maybe we still don't know each other well enough."

Hamilton gaped at her. What was she trying to say? That he really, really HAD messed everything up? He was realizing this week that she was so much more fragile than she let on. He didn't want this to be the end. She was giving up on him just because he'd made one mistake? Hamilton spoke again, and even he was surprised to find his tone to be angry. "Well, fine. I'm sorry that I messed up. I'm sorry that I'm not as PERFECT as you." He really was starting to feel mad, but as soon as he'd said that he wished he hadn't.

Hurt cascaded over Sinead's pretty features. "I'm not perfect." She said quietly.

"I..." Hamilton's mouth went dry, and he couldn't find any more words. He turned away from her, and he left.

**~Ian~**

Entering the Cahill kitchen, Ian was thinking about the girl who so very often dominated his thoughts. Especially this week.

Amy.

He'd sent her a text that said their last day of being forced to spend time together would have to start a bit late. There was something he had to do first, he'd said. Because there was.

As much as he really, really wanted to spend time with her- he figured it might be the last time he had a perfect excuse to- he knew he had to do this first.

He had to apologize to Hamilton Holt and Sinead Starling.

Ian had already tried Dan's room, in case Holt hadn't left to start his day yet, but only Dan had been there, snoring extremely loudly. So (mildly disgusted), Ian had made his way downstairs. The remains of a toaster waffle were sitting on a plate on the counter, evidence that Hamilton had been there, but he wasn't there now. He was probably with Sinead, then, in the guesthouse. Or he hoped they were both over there- he'd have to waste a lot more time finding them and going to apologize to them if they weren't.

And he just wanted to spend the last day that he could with Amy, since she probably never wanted to see his face again. Ever.

Sighing, Ian crossed the lawn and made his way over to the guesthouse. He reached the front door and was about to open it, when an angry-looking Hamilton Holt stormed out of it, walking right past Ian as if he didn't exist. What's his problem? Ian thought, rolling his eyes. But he hurried to follow the Holt.

"Hamilton!" He called.

Hamilton turned around stiffly. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

Ian finished his catching up, stopping in front of the bigger Cahill. "Hello, Hamilton." Ian said awkwardly. "I just wanted to..." Ugh, he thought. I hate this. "Apologize. For the way I acted yesterday. I had no authority to say that you shouldn't have been at that kind of restaurant." Ian put his hands in his pockets. Actually, that wasn't so hard, he mused silently.

Hamilton look distracted, though. He sighed. "Apology accepted. Don't worry about it, man." Then he turned and walked away, rubbing his eyes with his hands.

"I wonder what that was about," Ian muttered. He wondered why Hamilton hadn't been with Sinead. Annoying, Ian thought, rolling his eyes. Now I have to go find the girl.

He walked back up to the front door of the guesthouse and opened it warily, half expecting Sinead to pop out of the front door, too. (She didn't.)

Ian knew where Natalie was staying, and he knew she was roommates with the Starling, so Ian knew where he was going when he walked upstairs after seeing the bottom level of the house deserted.

He walked up to the door, about to knock. But he stopped suddenly, hearing the muffled sounds of someone... Crying? Ian was surprised, but he knocked on the door anyway. There was a pause of silence, and then he heard the voice of Sinead Starling say, "Go away, Hamilton."

"It's not Hamilton," Ian offered, wondering but at the same time not really caring that much about what must have happened between Hamilton and Sinead. "It's Ian."

The door clicked open and Sinead stood there, scowling, a streak of tears running down both of her cheeks. She wiped them away and asked hostilely, "What do you want?"

Ian was surprised to see her in the state she was in. It seemed unusual that a girl like her would cry, for some reason. Ian had always thought she was one of those 'tough' girls. And she was smart, too. And pretty, in the way that a lot of guys liked. Ian hadn't ever been very attracted to her, though.

(There would only ever be one girl who occupied his thoughts.)

"I came to apologize," Ian said. "For yesterday. At the restaurant." He said calmly. He waited for Sinead to invite him inside the room, but a few seconds passed before she realized why he was still there.

"Oh," she said. She opened the door completely and stepped aside to let him in, sniffling slightly and wiping her cheeks. When he'd come inside, she asked him, sounding curious, "Are you really sorry?" Ian paused to marvel at how this was such a different exchange between them than the last ones they'd had, like in the kitchen and then at the restaurant.

"I am." Ian confirmed calmly. He disliked apologizing so much, but he knew that he needed to... Besides, the selfish side of him whispered that maybe Amy would be impressed that he had. "What's wrong?" Ian asked, surprised that those words had slipped out of his mouth. He sat down on a chair by a desk. There was another chair near him, and he patted it, inviting her to sit down.

She looked at him strangely. "Are you feeling okay?" She asked him. Ian snorted, slightly amused. It was clear she didn't think he was capable of the human act of compassion.

"I'm fine," he said. "I'm just trying out this little thing Amy advised. 'Being nicer'." He said. And he even smiled. "So what's with the tears?" He asked, and Sinead still looked surprised. It wasn't really a secret that the two of them had always disliked each other. "Well?" Ian added, just a touch of impatience in his tone when she didn't respond right away. If he was going to spend time here with Sinead instead of with Amy, she'd better get a move on with spilling her thoughts, or whatever...

She sighed and pulled the chair up next to him. "It's Hamilton," she said. "Last night, he read something on my computer and I got mad at him and left. This morning he came and apologized, and I was going to forgive him and all because I know he was sorry, but..." She paused for a moment, biting her lip. "I got really embarrassed at what he saw, and I just yelled at him. Now he's mad at me, too."

Ian raised an eyebrow. "What did he see?" He asked. Sinead glared at him. Ian rolled his eyes. "Sorry," he said, smirking slightly.

"Ugh!" Sinead exclaimed. "I don't know why I'm talking to YOU about any of this." She crossed her arms, her face looking sour.

"Look, Sinead." Ian replied calmly, catching himself smirking and stopping. "You have a problem. So what would it take to FIX that problem?" As nice as he was trying to be, there was still the usual catch in his tone when he couldn't help but think that other people weren't even trying to think.

"Do you really think I'd be sitting in here if I had the solution?" She responded, gritting her teeth. Wow, Ian thought. For an Ekat, she REALLY isn't using her brain.

"Well, you're mad that he looked at your computer. But you were going to forgive him today- so what exactly is still stopping you from forgiving him?"

Sinead wavered in her reply. "I told you. I'm embarrassed by what he saw."

"Did he make fun of you for whatever it was?"

"...No."

"Did he care?"

"I guess... No. I guess he didn't." Sinead replied slowly, taking in his words and hers.

Ian stood up. "Well then, I think all you need to do is tell him you DO forgive him- you were just embarrassed." Ian shrugged. "Sounds simple to me." But they both knew that was kind of a lie, because they were both the kinds of people who didn't like admitting embarrassment or anything like that. Still, Sinead stared at him, mystified.

"Thanks, I guess." She said. He simply nodded and turned to leave, but he heard her add on, "And thanks for apologizing for yesterday."

He nodded again and slipped out of the room, eager to see Amy and hoping things would turn out at least somewhat alright between them.

**~Natalie~**

Natalie had decided she hated nothing more in the universe than blushing.

The entire act of it was horrible. The way blushing made you feel- embarrassed. The way it made you look- awful and pink and SO un-chic. The REASONS you blushed.

The word 'blush' or 'blushing' reminded Natalie of people like Amy Cahill. Blushing was not something she should be doing. Blushing, she thought, should be left for people like Amy and not at all for herself, a classy girl with MORALS... (Well, she used to have morals...?)

But it was hardly even noon, and Dan was making her blush like crazy.

It annoyed her to no end that he liked the effect he had on her. He had figured it out at last; gotten it through his thick skull. That she LIKED him. And for that very reason, he had found that he could, if he tried hard enough, make her blush.

He was making this the most awkward thing in the universe- the whole I-like-you-you-like-me thing. He was fine with letting their fingers brush, or their shoulders, and she WASN'T. Once today he'd even reached out and touched her hair, and she'd been so surprised that it had taken her nearly 10 seconds to combat him by swatting away his fingers. He'd just grinned, and she absolutely no idea what he could even be thinking anymore. He was insane.

It made her want to wail.

Yes, she'd been close to him last night. And it had been... Really nice. But they'd been completely alone, and she'd mostly just done that because she hadn't been sure she'd actually have been able to force the words, "I like you" through her mouth. There hadn't been a chance that anyone they knew might see them.

And they'd just been hanging around all morning, finally running out of stuff to do. (It WAS the last day of the week.) And Natalie would have enjoyed herself, probably, if not for Dan's obnoxiousness. In one way, (a totally secret way, though) she really liked all the attention he was giving her. But mostly it mad her feel worried. Natalie had no idea what their status was. He hadn't asked her out or anything. He was just enjoying making her feel uncomfortable.

At least, that's how she viewed it.

Natalie sighed. Dan was now plugging in controllers and setting up his Wii, and they were in the living room. He had decided that they would play Mario Kart, whatever the heck that was.

Natalie felt like running away.

This is all very stressful, she thought indigently. At the start of the week, liking Dan Cahill had been the most impossible thing in the world.

And now it was unfortunately very true.

"Alright," Dan said cheerily, popping up to sit beside her on the couch. "Do you know how to play?" He asked her.

"What kind of a question is that?" She replied to him with another question, slightly miffed. Dan slipped a controller into her hands, and he stared at her blankly for a moment.

"...So you do know how to play?" He asked. Natalie rolled her eyes.

"No, I DON'T!"

Dan snickered, apparently finding her bad mood amusing. "It's easy," he said. He spent a few minutes going over how to play the game, and to Natalie's relief, he was really nice about it. Even when she didn't understand the difference between the green shells and the red shells.

He was even being sort of... Sweet.

Natalie felt her heart fluttering in her chest. "Oh," Dan instructed, pausing. He'd been about to hit 'play' on the first race track. "Don't forget your wrist strap." Dan said, indicating towards a strap on the controller. He looked at her and added sheepishly, "Last time I didn't wear it I broke the TV. Yeah... Nellie wasn't very happy about that..."

Reaching over, he slid the strap over her hand for her, leaning in towards her in a closeness that Natalie found completely unnecessary. This time, though, she didn't blush. Dan looked disappointed. No, Dan, I'm done with your stupid game, she though silently. She wished that meant the Wii, too, but it didn't; she meant she was done with him trying to make her blush.

Dan hit 'play'. Natalie played as some character called Princess Peach (well, if she was a princess, she was the obvious choice of a character) and Dan played as Mario.

Natalie was surprisingly good at this game. She was good at making all of the sharp turns and sneaking up on the other players with her items. She'd gotten off to a bad start (which Dan had laughed at) but as the end of the round drew nearer, she was in 2nd place, and Dan was in 1st. Natalie knocked Dan's kart off the side of a bridge and drove right past the finish line, winning.

Dan recovered from his fall and sped past the finish line, earning himself 2nd place. Since they were the only two real players and the others were all computers, their round was done; Dan turned to Natalie, openly gawking. "...You BEAT me." He said, shocked.

Natalie flipped her hair over her shoulder and shrugged.

"You... BEAT me." Dan said again, staring at Natalie. The way he was looking at her was like the way that Natalie had stared that one time when she'd gotten an up-close look at that famous discontinued color of Revlon lipstick. Utter disbelief mixed with a huge helping of I'm-really-impressed.

Natalie smirked. "Dan, I'm good at EVERYTHING."

Dan's eyes were wide. "No way," he said. "No way you can beat ME. I own this game- you just have beginners luck."

She did not just have beginners luck.

They played 7 more rounds, and in every one of those rounds, Natalie came in 1st place and Dan came in 2nd, though he came extremely close to beating her a few times. Natalie began to enjoy herself and the game, liking that there was actually some strategy needed to play it.

At the end of the 7th round, Dan paused the game, looking at Natalie seriously. "Okay," Dan said. "You're amazing."

Natalie smiled at his praise. "I know." She said.

"So Natalie's good at video games," Dan muttered, more to himself than to her. He looked so utterly mystified. "I don't think that should be legal."

Natalie didn't quite understand what he meant by that, so she just smirked. "You bet I'm good," she said.

Dan leaned in a little closer to her, peering into her eyes, as if they might somehow expose how Natalie was so good at Mario Kart Wii. Before she realized what he was doing he was touching her hair again, admiring it. "Your hair is really soft," he said, grinning like an idiot. It was so cute.

Natalie winced, turning away from him slightly. "Can you not..." She didn't finish the sentence. Dan moved away from her quickly, looking surprised.

"Oh- yeah, sorry." He said. He coughed. "Round 8." He said, pressing play.

Natalie's eyes flickered over Dan's as the countdown for the round to start began on the TV screen. When she looked into them, she though she saw a little bit of hurt there.

_A/N_

_I also wanted to say thanks for getting me to _**900+**_ reviews, I started like, screaming xD If I actually make it to 1,000 I will DEFINITELY be screaming and _**,jsbhd,hjsbdc**_ this is SO exciting_

_xD_

_Also, for anyone wondering about me making a contest, just hold on! I promise I will make one soon or soon-ish, I just want it to be perfect. And I know that whatever kind of challenge I set up for y'all, I'll be doing, too :D More for you to read :D xD_

_1) What do you think is up with Natalie? xD_

_2) Can you impart to me some words of wisdom?_

_3) What is your favorite fairy tale? (Mine is probably Beauty and the Beast. I'm a sucker for the fact that she fell in love with him EVEN THOUGH HE'S A BEAST)_

_4) Your life or CHOCOLATE? (I don't really understand this question. But I choose chocolate.)_

_~Lovely_


	35. Being 'Friends' (Or More Than)

_A/N_

_Thanks, reviewers!_

_Here is an _**important note**_- as tomorrow is Valentine's Day, as all of your Valentines... _**I will be posting a one-shot/contest!**_ (FINALLY! xD) The contest in itself is called the _**Contest-Contest,**_ and the winner of it will receive a _**one-shot from me_. _**_If you want to participate, add me to author alerts if you haven't already done so (just in case!) and keep your excitement contained- the contest should be up tomorrow! xD_

_Only _**4**_ chapters left._

_Disclaimer: "Jonah," I say, poking the international pop-star in the ribs, "-how do you think everything is going to play out?" Jonah shoots me what is already his 16th look of utter hatred today. He dislikes the way I keep him holed up, with shackles on his wrists and ankles. (What? I don't want him to leave...) "I don't know," he mutters. It seems he doesn't really care, and this is not a real disclaimer._

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: Being 'Friends' (Or More Than)

**~Dan~**

The world was full of mysteries, but girls, Dan had decided, were the biggest mystery of all.

He didn't really understand Natalie. Last night, it had seemed so clear that she liked him. She'd MADE it clear- which he admired a lot, because he wouldn't have guessed that that would be something that she'd do. Actually tell him... And that had made him feel really good. He must have done something right to get a girl like Natalie to like him.

But at the same time, she was much colder towards him today. Er, not cold, exactly, but she didn't seem to want any part in Dan's teasing her. So he'd retired the act. But he was still wondering what she was thinking. All he'd wanted to do was see if he could make her laugh, but she hadn't seemed very amused.

They'd finished up their game, and in the end, Dan had put in all of his effort and used all of his dirty tricks, which evened the score out a little bit... But Natalie Kabra, Lucian strategist (apparently aka Natalie Kabra, video game strategist) had still pulled out slightly in the lead. That, at least, had seemed to make her happy.

Dan usually hated to lose games (especially games he considered himself king of, such as Mario Kart), but he was too impressed with her to actually be mad. She kept pulling on his line, more and more- just when he thought there couldn't possibly be anything else to like about her, there WAS. For instance- her coin collection.

Or her penchant for winning Mario Kart.

But he was beginning to suspect now that even though she liked him back, she was still just as elusive as ever. Which was driving him a little bit crazy- at least when he really thought about it.

Dan sighed, following Natalie and draping lights down behind him while she instructed him where they went. They were outside now, because Natalie had wanted to double-check ("More like quadruple-check," Dan had muttered) all of her party decorations. At the last moment she'd decided that they'd need a LOT more lights, so Dan was rather dutifully doing as she told him to do, but he was really bored. Stringing lights was not as fun as playing the Wii.

"That should be good," Natalie said, surveying their work. She smiled, clapping her hands together in a finished-business way. "We can go inside now." She fanned her face. "Where it's air conditioned."

Dan nodded and the two of them made their way back inside. Dan went in first and accidentally closed the door in Natalie's face. "Oops," Dan said, though he was unable to resist a slight smile. "Sorry."

Natalie rolled her eyes and opened the door herself, slipping past Dan. With the breeze from outside and her breezing past, he smelled the now always-recognizable scent of jasmine trailing gently in her wake. Dan followed her, and she headed for Grace's kitchen.

Natalie sat down at the counter, sighing. Dan opened the fridge and pulled out a glass bottled Coca Cola soda. He held it up and asked aloud, "Do you want one?" He wasn't expecting a yes, so when he got one, he was surprised.

"Yes, please," Natalie said.

Dan closed the fridge, now with two cokes in his hands, and he sat across the counter from her, as he had done so many times this week. Dan slid her the bottle of coke and she caught it between her hands, her fingers disrupting the cold mist on the sides of the bottle. Dan twisted his cap off, looked at it for a moment, and then slipped it into his pocket.

He had been restarting his bottle cap collection.

"So," Dan said. For a moment he could find nothing to say, and this disturbed him. He didn't want to like someone so much that he couldn't carry out a conversation with them. But he reminded himself that he supposed there WAS less to say now, since today would be their last day of forced together-ness. Thinking that suddenly struck him and it made him feel sad. He said aloud, "Today's the last day of the week."

Natalie fiddled with her bottle, it still unopened. "The last day," she echoed, her eyes looking thoughtful. Dan's eyes scanned hers, looking for what she might be thinking of.

"What are you thinking?" He finally said, just asking her. Her eyes met his and she hesitated, but said,

"I'm actually a little nervous for the party." Natalie said, and she paused a moment, then went on. "It's just that I haven't been to a REAL party in so long- and I had to organize this one. What if something goes wrong? I mean, you know the Cahills- you're all crazy." Natalie said, obviously not considering herself crazy even though she, too, was a Cahill. She also eyed Dan suspiciously at the word 'crazy'.

"It'll go fine, Natalie," Dan said. "The decorations look awesome. And Nellie's cooking is awesome. And I promise you, the music selection will be awesome." He shot her a grin, taking a swig of his coke. "Therefore, the party will be awesome."

He prompted a laugh out of her with his words, and he found himself waiting on her, waiting to hear what she might say next. She smiled slightly, and she said to him, "I find it highly amusing when you use words like 'therefore'."

"Hey," Dan said, pretending to be offended. Natalie smirked, and Dan saw that she still had not opened her bottle. Maybe she was rethinking her choice to drink the soda. Or maybe she didn't think she could get the twisty pop-top off. "Do you want me to open that for you?" Dan asked.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "I can do it myself." She responded shortly, and she did, twisting the cap off, which she then handed to Dan. "For your collection," she said. He felt his insides go all warm and stupidly mushy that she would think to give it to him.

"Thanks," Dan said. He raised his coke bottle and held it out to her in a toast, proclaiming, "To the last day of the week."

Their glasses clinked together.

**~Sinead~**

Come on, Hamilton, where are you? Sinead thought, beginning to grow worried.

After Ian had visited her room, she felt like she'd had sense knocked into her, or something. As weird as it was that the person who had made that happen had been Ian Kabra, she was still certain now of what she should do.

If she could just FIND Hamilton... Where the heck was he?

She felt ridiculous now. That talk with Ian had made her feel like she'd been too dramatic, too quick to overreact to what had happened. Yes, Hamilton looking at her computer had been wrong of him. But she'd also forgotten herself to activate the on-screen codes, something that the other Ekats would probably look down at her for...

Somehow, though, at the same time, that outburst had been so very LIKE her. Sinead was a bit of a hothead at times, and that really wasn't a secret. (Almost every Cahill had had some sort of run-in with her at some point.) That was just part of who she was- she stood her ground and she REALLY believed what she believed in. Sometimes, she was really proud of how passionate a person she could be. She had fire in her eyes.

But she couldn't apply any pride to this situation. Hamilton had messed up, and she had, too. So now she had to fix it, before it got worse. Sinead felt nerves make her stomach feel tight with knots, and she left the Cahill house living room, where she'd been checking for Hamilton.

Sinead headed for the front door, opening it. Almost instantly she spotted Hamilton, and she cursed herself for not having seen him sooner. He sat in the front seat of his dad's minivan.

Hurrying across the yard, Sinead hoped that the things both of them had done wouldn't set their relationship- even their relationship as friends- back at all, in any way. Last night, before the whole... Uh, computer INCIDENT, Sinead had been feeling so confident in her friendship with Hamilton.

Had they been destined to mess it all up?

Sinead sprinted across the yard until she reached the van, and she yanked open the door to the passenger's seat side. She climbed in the car, knowing that her own eyes were wide with a mix of emotions. She kept her jaw clamped shut as she entered the vehicle, and when Hamilton saw her, he looked surprised, then quietly stony.

He sighed, and for a moment, he said nothing. His earlier words washed over Sinead, and she flinched at the memory; "I'm sorry that I'm not as PERFECT as you."

Sinead felt like crying again. Why did this have to be so hard? She'd survived an entire week with Hamilton Holt, only for the both of them to mess it up so close to the end. Were they both even okay to apologize? Did he even still WANT her forgiveness? Sitting there, the only thing Sinead knew was that she sure as heck wanted his.

Hamilton looked across to her, and he crossed his arms. "I'm still sorry." He said shortly.

Sinead nodded. "...I know. And I'm sorry, too. What happened was partly my fault, anyway, and... I overreacted. To what happened." She summoned up a laugh, but it was dry and emotionless, and it died in the back of her throat. She added on to her speech quietly, "I'm not really mad anymore." Pause. "I was just so... Embarrassed. At what you saw on the computer. You can make fun of me for it," she said, trying to swallow even though her throat was so dry. "If you want."

The words had barely passed from her mouth when Hamilton shook his head slightly, prompting Sinead to feel the reasons why she'd decided she liked him so much in the first place rising up inside of her. Before he even said it, she knew what he was going to say- that he wouldn't make fun of her. Not because she liked something that some people might not consider her 'style'.

"I can't make fun of you, Sinead," he said, echoing her thoughts. "I don't want to. And I told you before- you don't even need to be embarrassed." He let out a drawn-out sigh. "Sinead..." His gaze on her made her feel like there was electricity buzzing through her veins. Hamilton's mouth turned down in a frown. "I feel so bad. For looking when I shouldn't have."

"Please don't," she said, and she found herself begging. "I mean... I'm ready to be done with the subject. I'm ready to just... Move on."

"And from what point would you like to continue moving on from?" He asked softly.

Sinead opened her mouth but no sound came out for a moment. Then she leaned forward in her seat and wrapped her arms around him. "Right where we left off," she whispered. "If that's alright with you?"

Hamilton sighed, but she thought maybe she detected a hint of new contentedness in his breath as he wrapped his arms around her too. It felt better to be close to him now than it had even the first time they'd been close.

"That's fine by me," he promised her.

**~Amy~**

"I've apologized."

That was what Ian said to Amy, startling her by leaning in towards her from the doorway of her bedroom. He had her attention; he went on.

"You were right, Amy. About... All of that stuff. And I've apologized. To Sinead and Hamilton." Ian said. For once he seemed rather glum and un-cocky, just looking a little... Well, sad. "You were right," he repeated, as if she hadn't heard, and he ran a hand through his hair.

Amy felt stunned for a moment. So that's what he was doing, she thought. Ever since getting that text from him saying he'd be 'late', she'd been hanging around in her room, switching between the actions of trying to sort her feelings out and trying to read to calm herself down.

Why did Ian have to make things so hard?

Maybe if he's making things hard for me, I really should let him go, she thought. But that thought made her feel miserable, somehow- and it didn't feel like the answer to her problems, either. It felt like she didn't want to be with him, but she didn't want to be without him. Amy realized she was staring at him. Finding her tongue, she asked quickly, "How did they... React?" She tried to imagine Ian apologizing, but she couldn't get her imagination to give her a clear picture of what that might look like.

Ian's hands slipped into his pockets, and he shrugged slightly. "They both forgave me."

Amy didn't know what she should say now. She was glad that Sinead and Ham had forgiven Ian, though. Especially considering how mad they had seemed at the restaurant. (Well, how mad Sinead had seemed.)

Amy was suddenly struck by a replay of what had happened between them in the car last night, on the way home from the restaurant. How they'd come so very near to kissing, and yet they hadn't- because he had sensed her confusion about him and had stopped, even going so far as to say, "You don't want to kiss me, do you?"

Why do you do that? Amy wanted to yell. How can you act the way you do towards other people, but then turn it around so smoothly by apologizing? How could you almost kiss me, but pull away at the very last second...? Thinking that kind of hurt. Her thoughts began looping in her mind, and she kept her mouth shut, afraid that if she opened it, her thoughts would spill out vocally.

Ian seemed to take her not getting up as an invitation for himself to come inside of her room. Amy was sitting on her bed, and he surprised her by climbing up onto the bed, too, and sitting beside her.

"I have to admit," Ian said, "-that I'm going to be very, very disappointed when this week is over." His amber eyes met her green ones. "Tomorrow, Natalie and I go back to London."

His tone was neutral and calm, despite what he was actually saying. The hard hit of feelings whacked Amy in the chest and for a moment, the idea that the week was so close to ending made her feel incredibly anxious. She had learned so much this week- so much about Ian Kabra. But there was still so much to learn- still so many things she needed to sort out, things regarding him. If he left before she figured him out, what would happen?

She shivered, imagining the feeling of his lips against hers.

"I think I'll be disappointed when the week is over, too." She admitted slowly. She dared to look into his eyes, searching for what he might be thinking- after all, the eyes were the window to the soul. But Ian was good at hiding his emotions most of the time, even from her, and she couldn't tell what she was seeing there. "I learned a lot about you this week." She paused. "Mostly good stuff."

She wasn't even sure what she meant by that, but he took it as a joke, and he laughed, his eyes shining in amusement. "I learned a lot about you, too." He said, and that made her blush, to think that he knew more about her now after spending so much time with her. "Amy..." Ian hesitated, seeming more serious now. He paused before finally saying, "Can we at least be friends? I know in the past I was never someone who you really considered a friend, but... If we can't be..." His eyes flickered over hers but he didn't finish that sentence.

"Of course we're friends, Ian!" Amy said, surprised at him. "I mean... Sometimes I get a little surprised by... The way you act." She said awkwardly. Like yesterday, she thought. "But that doesn't mean we aren't friends."

He nodded. "Good." He said. "Because I know you..." Ian started, but he didn't finish that sentence, either. Instead, he stood up rather abruptly, motioning that Amy should get up as well. He cleared his throat. "Well then, Amy. How would you like to spend our last day together?"

Our last day together, Amy thought, her cheeks turning pink. That makes it sound like we'll never see each other again or something. "I don't know," she admitted. "But maybe we could start by going downstairs to have a snack."

Ian smiled at her and she was surprised by the amount of kindness in his eyes. "A snack it is." He said. When he smiled at her like that... It felt so real. He was showing what a good person he COULD be. The problem is that he doesn't act like this nearly enough, Amy thought, her thoughts turning slightly miserable again. But she decided that she would enjoy his kind mood while it lasted.

Amy and Ian made there way downstairs to the kitchen, and all the way there, Amy could feel Ian's eyes on her, making her feel as self conscious as usual. She wished his staring wasn't so obvious. And she wished that she didn't actually kind of like it. It was just a little bit- but still. Mostly, his stares made her feel like she was doing something wrong, because she avoided his gaze, and all she knew was that he was looking. But if she did allow herself to sneak a peek, she knew that he was not staring because she had spinach in her teeth or something- he just had that look on his face, like he did yesterday, in the car. (ON the way to the restaurant- not back.) Like... Like he really thought she was worth looking at, or something.

Amy wished she hadn't thought that, because her cheeks were pink enough already.

Once actually in the kitchen, Amy found herself opening multiple cabinets and frowning. It seemed they were all mostly empty- Nellie must have done a clear sweep of the place, stealing all the snack foods for the party tonight. Sighing, Amy leaned her elbows against the kitchen counter and explained her theory of why there was no food.

Ian raised an eyebrow. "Right," he muttered.

"Okay, so..." Amy stacked up what little food she'd found in the backs of the cabinets. "Looks like we're stuck with either Wasabi Peas, Bacon, Egg and Cheese Combo crackers, or stale Doritos."

Ian looked at her blankly. "None of those weird things are going to touch my lips, Amy." He said.

They both burst out laughing.

_A/N_

_Wow this is the first time in a while that I actually feel like I might have written a bad chapter D: I'm so sorry, guys. On a totally unrelated note, though- wasabi peas are delicious. I swear. _

_1) Enter my contest when I post it, okay? *Mind control* (Look I'm so cool that that wasn't even a question)_

_2) How do you plan to spend Valentine's Day? xD_

_3) Do you prefer camping somewhere overnight or staying in a hotel somewhere overnight?_

_4) Would you rather be able to speak French or American Sign Language? (If you already speak one of these, AWESOME. lol)_

_~Lovely_


	36. Meditation and Love (Sickness)

_A/N_

_1,000+ reviews_

_ONE THOUSAND + REVIEWS_

_ONE THOUSAND + REVIEWS._

_I..._

_*Explodes, than re-forms, only because she has a story to finish*_

_I... OMG GOSH GUYS I NEVER THOUGHT I'D GET SO FAR WITH THIS. IT EXCITES ME SO MUCH- ALL I EVER FEEL LIKE DOING ANYMORE IS WRITING, AND JUST WRITING AND WRITING AND WRITING. AND WHILE I WORK ON MY OWN STUFF THAT I CAN'T YET SHARE WITH THE WORLD BECAUSE I'M SHY, I HAVE A NICE LITTLE HOME HERE ON FANFICTION, AND YOU GUYS ARE MY NEIGHBORS AND MY FAMILY AND MY PETS (who wants to be a cat?) AND THIS IS GETTING WEIRD BUT BASICALLY THANK YOU SO MUCH IF YOU READ MY STORY AND IF YOU REVIEW. GOD BLESS YA :'D THIS IS SO EXCITING!_

_Only _**3**_ chapters left._

_Disclaimer: (Has anyone noticed the reoccurring freakish Jonah disclaimers? xD) "Jonah!" I call. I frown slightly. Where has he run off to now? Honestly, he does NOT understand that he's my captive, I think. I sigh. "You're just mad because I don't ship you with anyone!" From a darker corner of the room I hear his hiss of a reply- "You're right, I AM mad- but more because you're always tying me up!"_

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: Meditation and Love (Sickness)

**~Hamilton~**

Ham was feeling entirely better. If you wanted to use a corny expression, you could say there was a spring in his step. Because there was- mutual forgiveness had turned out to be a pretty beautiful thing.

He was all grins now. The whole 'incident' thing HAD still happened, yes- and if Hamilton had allowed himself to dwell on it he still would have been feeling pretty bad. But he didn't want to dwell on it and neither did Sinead- so they just didn't. In truth, the whole thing kind of reminded Hamilton that they, THEY as a thing, an item, a couple... Were very fragile. In some ways that was disappointing, but it was just the truth.

At the same time he had no room to be disappointed because the bittersweet was turning out to be just sweet, or that was the way it felt to Hamilton. He didn't know about Sinead.

She seemed incredibly relieved, and maybe a little stony at first- but she warmed up, and soon she was back to making jokes about Ian the Goat and the likes of those types of things.

They were currently shopping.

A mass text, as well as the gossip of word-of-mouth had informed both Sinead and Hamilton all about this party tonight. Apparently the main person who'd planned it was Natalie and Dan had helped her, which was interesting, and Hamilton wondered if the culture of the party would be split in two. Like, fancy champagne served with french fries, or something. He still wondered what Dan was up to this week. He figured maybe trying to torture Natalie. But then again, maybe not.

Anyway.

Nellie was in charge of food because she'd taken the job on herself- and she, Dan and Natalie had made some playlist. All the guests were to come dressed 'nicely', and Fiske had offered to pay for dress or suit rentals or purchases or whatever. Attendance was mandatory.

Hamilton and Sinead had a few hours before the party. They were shopping now to find their clothes for the evening event. Technically, Hamilton was already done- he had his suit. Er, tuxedo. Whatever. In the store, he kept having to try on the next size up because he was too big.

At first he didn't really like wearing a suit. He wasn't a suit kind of guy- well, unless it was a TRACK suit. But otherwise, he didn't think the materials of a tuxedo were very practical. What if he needed to do something athletic? The suit was so stiff and confining. Still, it was only for one night, and he actually kinda liked the way he looked when he'd finally gotten a suit that was his size.

So the main focus now was getting Sinead a dress- and she was getting kind of frustrated.

Despite her initial good mood after they'd agreed to just forget the computer-reading-and-overreacting incident, she seemed to slowly become more and more annoyed with the process of shopping.

Sinead didn't strike Hamilton as a girl who'd particularly like shopping, but he didn't think she'd hate it, either. He had guessed that she was growing frustrated because of the dress selections- everything was summery, (it WAS summer, after all) and that meant short sleeves and short skirts.

She hadn't tried on anything yet.

They were in their third boutique and Sinead was browsing the young women's section with a scowl on her face; Hamilton sighed and dug his phone out of his pocket. Thank God this store had WiFi... He had a few sports statistics to look up. This week had made him out of the loop.

Hamilton frowned at his phone screen. Things didn't seem to be going well for his favorite teams in the sporting world. Hamilton looked up and saw Sinead eyeing a certain dress. Thinking maybe he could help her somehow (though dresses weren't exactly his area of expertise), he walked over to her, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

The dress Sinead was looking at was lacy and sky blue. Worn on a girl like Sinead, it would probably just brush the knees. It had a simple gold ribbon as a belt, and the manikin wearing it also sported a golden necklace-y thing.

"Wow," Sinead breathed. "It's so pretty."

I don't know anything about clothes, Hamilton thought. Aloud he said, "Yeah, it is nice." But he also didn't mention that it had short sleeves... Sinead could see that for herself. When he looked at her she was looking at the dress rather wistfully. "...You could try it on." Hamilton tried carefully. "Just to see. If you don't like it on we can find something else."

They both knew she was worrying about showing her scars.

Sinead bit her lip, still staring at the dress. Then she turned away from it abruptly. "We can just skip to finding something else," she muttered. She breezed past Hamilton to speak to a sales associate that was walking the other direction. Hamilton heard her ask for dresses with long sleeves.

Ham turned to look at the dress Sinead had liked. She'd wear that without a doubt if she didn't have those scars, he thought. That saddened him. He'd seen how much she liked the dress... Without really thinking about what he was doing, Hamilton grabbed the same model dress off the rack behind the manikin. Then he unclasped the necklace from around the manikins neck, too.

He hurried to the sales desk while Sinead was being led off by the person who worked at the store. Hamilton shoved the stuff at the lady behind the counter and tapped his foot impatiently while she seemed to move in slow motion. C'mon, Hamilton thought. If Sinead comes over here she'll see me buying the dress for her.

"Would you like a bag-" the woman started, but Hamilton cut her off.

"No, thank you," he said hurriedly. He grabbed the dress and the necklace and shoved them in the bag he was already carrying with his tux and all in it. He relaxed immediately when the dress and necklace were out of sight. He paid the woman and thanked her, making his way down the store aisles and looking for Sinead.

The whole buying-Sinead-a-dress thing had been spontaneous, yes... But he knew why he'd done it. It would be a gift- he'd give it to her tomorrow, before they both left on their separate flights... He hoped she'd accept it. He'd seen the way she looked at it. So wistfully. Maybe it'll encourage her, he thought hopefully. Maybe she'll see it as a goal, and she'll work on the way she feels about herself until she's ready to wear it.

He found her 5 minutes later, and her mood seemed to have improved greatly. He actually ended up seeing her at the checkout counter.

"There you are," Hamilton said. "I had no idea where you went."

"Sorry," Sinead said. "I just really wanted to find a dress that would look good on me." That blue dress would have looked good on you, Hamilton argued silently. You shouldn't care so much about your scars, Sinead. But he didn't say that and she went on, "I found a great dress though. Really." And she said it quite cheerfully.

Hamilton smiled, glad she was at least now happy. "Can I see it?" He asked her.

"Nope- it's a surprise." She said with a smile. Hamilton rolled his eyes, but it wasn't in real annoyance. Sinead glanced at her wristwatch, which she wore over the sleeve on her left arm. "We should go back to the house," Sinead announced. "I have to feed Lincoln. And I barely spent any time with him yesterday." She added a bit sadly, thinking of her's and kind of Hamilton's cat. Sinead looked up at Hamilton. "I mean, if you're ready to go back, of course."

Hamilton nodded. "Sure, I'm all done." He said. "All I needed was my suit, so..."

Sinead nodded, too, and linked arms with Hamilton. Hamilton smiled and allowed her to drag him along slightly. Conversationally he said to her, "I DO want to hang out with my buddy Lincoln for a while before the whole party thing... 'Cause after that you'll be taking him home. Pretty much."

"Yeah," Sinead said thoughtfully. "Lincoln will miss you, though," she added. The two of them reached the car and parted momentarily to enter the van. Hamilton sat in the drivers seat, as usual, and Sinead took her place at the passengers seat before adding, "You DID save Lincoln, after all. You're probably his hero. Tomorrow he'll be like, 'Where's dad?'"

Hamilton rolled his eyes, laughing. "Stop it, Sinead," he teased. "You're already making me miss my... Son."

Sinead burst out laughing along with him. Then she asked, "Is Ian the goat your son, too?"

All the way home, Hamilton and Sinead made bad jokes about tomorrow, when they'd be parting ways, and they laughed. It was easy to laugh when Sinead did. When she fairly threw her head back, tossing her hair, her eyes sparkling... But secretly, Hamilton wasn't so happy about the whole parting ways thing. He knew he'd miss his cat.

And Sinead.

**~Natalie~**

"Daniel Arthur Cahill, you SUCK."

Natalie glared at Dan. She was not liking the strawberry ice cream stain on her dress. Dan did not understand that a stain was a stain, even if her dress happened to be pink and the ice cream happened to be pink. Natalie knew she had to change soon for the party anyway, but she didn't exactly appreciate the mess Dan was making of her.

Of her clothes and just... Of HER.

Dan held his hands up in surrender. "Woah," he remarked. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you say anything sucks." He thought for a moment, then added, "I'm proud of you. Even though you said it about me..."

Natalie just continued to glare.

As the day wore on Natalie was growing more anxious. She was increasingly nervous about the party, and even though she had time, she still felt like going upstairs right now to start getting ready. She wanted everything to be so perfect, and that was a hard thing to want with all the usual Cahills around.

"Seriously though," Dan was saying. Natalie looked up at him. "Are you feeling okay? You seem kind of... Mean." When he said that, he didn't look like he was really hurt or like he was trying to hurt her or anything- he just looked like he was supplying what he thought was the truth, a serious tone underlining his words. Natalie sighed.

"I'm sorry." Natalie muttered. Ugh, she thought. Never thought I'D be apologizing to DAN. But he was right. And she mostly hadn't been mean to him this week. She added on, "I told you, I'm just... Not so sure about the outcome of this party. And I swear to God, Dan, if you drop any more ice cream on me your sister WILL find you dead in the morning."

Natalie was sitting with Dan in the living room. He'd apparently decided that they hadn't had enough sugar yet today- soon after drinking that soda he'd thrown open the freezer and pulled out, like, 17 different flavors of ice cream, pronouncing his gratitude of the fact that since Amy was 'busy' this week with Ian, his sister hadn't been around to yell at Dan for his eating habits.

Natalie had almost stepped in on that job for Amy. But when she'd seen the strawberry ice cream she wanted some... What? She liked ice cream. Though it was surprising that she'd allowed herself to eat it twice this week... Natalie shuddered at the unhealthy way she'd been eating. Influenced by Dan, she though grimly.

Dan had even found some boxed ice cream cones, so that was why he'd made such a mess- he was not very good at scooping the ice cream into the cones... Little chunks of pink stuff had landed on the hem of her dress as he'd scooped, concentration on his face and his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth, like a cartoon character. Natalie had done her best to get the stain out with cold water, but the finality of getting rid of it would have to be done later.

At the dry cleaners.

They'd moved from the kitchen to the living room now, and Natalie was surprised to find herself feeling so comfortable in this house. And Grace's house, too. The houses weren't really up to her standards, exactly, but sitting here, Natalie felt like she could remember a lot of memories of things that had happened here on the Cahills property. Not all the memories were good- far too many involved Dan-inflicted chaos- but SOME were pleasant...

And wasn't that kind of what made a house a home? Making a ton of memories, and then being able to look at all the good and the bad that had strengthened your relationship with the people in the house?

Oh my God, Natalie thought unhappily. I sound like Amy.

Dan shoveled more ice cream into his mouth. He'd started out with ice cream in a cone, but he'd decided that that wasn't near enough, and had added ice cream to a bowl and stuck the cone ice cream-side-down into the bowl. He wasn't eating strawberry- he was having some monstrous-looking flavor of triple chocolate. He struggled for a moment at the inordinate amount of creamy dairy product in his mouth; then he swallowed.

"You," Dan declared, poking Natalie's arm, "-need to relax. You're starting to sound like Amy..." When he said that, Natalie winced.

"Alright," she said with a sigh. "Fine then. What do you suggest I do to relax?"

Dan set his bowl down on the coffee table and put his hands together in front of his face. He crossed his legs and breathed out deeply, closing his eyes. "Yoga." He said in a concentrated voice.

Natalie laughed. "Dan, that is NOT yoga," she said, rolling her eyes. But it was funny anyway. Dan peeked open an eye.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He said. He dropped his pose and looked at her. "I think I meant to say... Meditation."

Natalie nodded. That suggestion actually made sense to her. "Meditation DOES help one to relax." She looked over at him and realized he looked a combination of surprised and weirded out.

"Do you mean you ACTUALLY meditate?" He said, eyes wide. Natalie rolled her eyes at him again.

"Well, yes. I took a class on how to a few years ago. I forgot all about it... But now that I come to think of it again, I was really into it for a bit." Natalie shook her head. "Now I can't believe that I forgot about meditating... I used to do a bit daily. It's such a good stress reliever." I probably need to do 24 straight hours of meditation after this week, Natalie thought with a sigh. Dan looked kind of interested.

"So... Meditating is an actual thing? I mean, it's not just people sitting there pretending to 'go to a calm place' and humming to themselves?"

"Meditation," Natalie answered him, "-is a mental discipline in which one attempts to stop thinking and go into a deeper state of mind- a state of self awareness." Dan looked at Natalie blankly. She supplied, "I told you before, meditation is really relaxing."

Dan grinned. "Well... Wanna show me how to do it?"

Natalie was appalled at the idea. "YOU?" She said skeptically.

"Why not?" Dan challenged.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll teach you. Or I'll TRY to." She stood up from the couch and set the remains of her ice cream cone down on the coffee table. It was the kind of disappointing cone with a flat bottom, and she'd eaten most of the ice cream off the top, so there hopefully was no danger of it melting. Natalie eyed the floors carpet for a moment before sitting down. "You guys should try vacuuming sometime," she muttered.

Dan paid no heed to her comment and joined her on the floor. "Teach me, master," he said dramatically.

Natalie poked him to get him to be quiet. "Alright." She said aloud. She thought for a moment- she hadn't done this in a while... She could feel Dan's eyes on her. "Okay," she said, confident she had remembered the proper steps. "When you're learning to meditate, it's really important to control your breathing. And also how long you're meditating for- usually I try for 5 to 10 minutes."

Dan nodded. "So...?" He said, and she knew he was asking for an example.

"Sit like this," Natalie instructed, adapting to the pose he himself had used on the couch. They sat with their legs crossed, and Natalie added, "Make sure your back is really straight." She paused, then added, "When you're doing it right, you shouldn't feel any pressure or much effort to keep yourself up. Can you feel anything?"

Dan looked at her with a look on his face that seemed to say, Is this right? Natalie giggled.

"Relax a little. You don't have to be so stiff."

Dan nodded and relaxed, and then he smiled. "Okay, I think I got it."

Natalie nodded her consent, his position looking accurate to her. "Now relax as much as you can. Just try to imagine that you don't weigh a thing- you're a feather." Natalie said. Dan laughed at her words and she eyed him with a slight glare. "Do you want to learn or not?" She asked him impatiently. Dan coughed.

"Sorry."

Natalie went on. "Relax all your muscles. You can put your hands in your lap, or you can leave them hanging down by your sides. Whichever one works better." Natalie herself had now broken her position, as she was helping Dan. Dan tried both of her options and settled with his hands by his sides.

"Now what?" He murmured, and it pleased Natalie that he seemed concentrated now.

"Now you'll need to control your breathing. Keep it as even and steady as possible." Natalie waited a few seconds, then continued as he followed her instructions. "And remember to try and stay light and relaxed." Another pause. "Now count your breaths - 1 to 10." Natalie looked at Dan and she couldn't help but smile. Sometimes he was just so... She didn't allow herself to finish that thought. "Close your eyes," she added quietly.

Dan's eyes closed and Natalie watched him closely. She didn't see him like this often- so calm and quiet and relaxed and all. She could feel her heartstrings being pulled on when she looked at him, nerves building up inside of her, as was usual when she looked at him. In all honestly, Dan really was just a nice guy.

But I don't know if I could do that, Natalie thought. Be with him. Like... In that way.

More than anything, the idea that scared her the most was what other people would think.

They'll tease me to no end, she thought grimly. If they knew I liked Dan... Natalie looked away from him. It was a choice now- one or the other. Maintaining the status and position she held now, or openly letting everyone see that she liked Dan, and that he, in fact, liked her back? It seemed he himself was not at all afraid of what anyone else thought...

Natalie bit her lip. She checked the clock on the wall. In her thoughts, 7 minutes had passed and she shook Dan's arm. "It's been 7 minutes," she declared.

Dan looked surprised and his eyes fluttered open. "Woah," he said. "That was like... Totally weird." He frowned. "Are you sure that was 7 minutes? It felt like 7 seconds."

Once again, Natalie couldn't help but smile at him and his gorgeous green eyes. "It does feel like that sometimes," she admitted.

**~Ian~**

Just friends. Just friends. Amy Cahill and I are just friends.

This was Ian's new motto, and he found himself thinking it over and over. He had to. He was scared that if he had any other thoughts on Amy, things would not turn out so well.

He thought of how much he had accomplished this week, though. In his... Relationship with her. Ian winced at his mental choice of words and moved on- besides, he really had come far with her.

In this week, he finally felt like he'd earned her trust again after the clue hunt. For real. He'd told her that she was beautiful. He'd hugged her- and she'd seemed so upset when he presented himself to her as a monster, because in that moment, that had been who he felt he was. But she hadn't agreed. As usual, she was herself and had only seen the good in him... And then of course he'd told her he liked her. And in the most perfect and unbelievable moment he was sure that he had lived so far, she even said she liked him back.

But as much as things were going forward between them, they also felt like they were going back. Because it was always him messing things up around her, it seemed. Like the whole mess at the restaurant. That hadn't been him directly offending her, but she'd been hurt anyway. What he had done was wrong, and she'd made that clear. And after that, Ian knew he'd messed things up- and he felt lucky to just be her friend.

Just. Friends.

He'd tried to kiss her.

Just. Friends.

He didn't WANT to be friends with Amy Cahill.

He knew he was selfish but he didn't even care. He knew that friendship with her was a thousand times better than her hating him and the old tension that used to be between them. (Well that was still there. In fact, it was magnified by a thousand times now. But still.) They had agreed on friendship and he now knew she would count him if she were to list off her friends. But he couldn't think of her as a friend.

She was starting to drive him crazy. It was as if with their agreement that they would be friends, she had become more perfect. He was noticing even more about her now. Even more that he found himself liking. And they weren't even big things- they were small things. Teeny tiny things. But he loved them anyway.

Sometimes she picked at the hem of her shirt. It was so small and inconspicuous but now he noticed it every time. Now he noticed when she laughed and how she laughed and what she laughed at. Now he noticed when she hid behind her hair, and when she was feeling more confident, and would ever so slightly brush it out of the way.

Is this what love is? Ian thought.

I hate it.

Amy Cahill, who would never be his...

She was in a good mood now, and mostly so was he, but every time she smiled it felt like someone was flipping his heart around inside of his chest, which was quite an unpleasant feeling...

Just. Friends.

After digging around in the kitchen for a while they'd ended up eating nothing, which was kind of disappointing, because he was getting hungry... But Amy still had found the whole situation amusing, so even though they hadn't eaten, she had laughed it off. Soon enough would be the party, with tons of food, though, so it wouldn't be too bad to wait.

They were hanging around in Grace's house, in the living room.

Ian thought that the sight of this room was getting way too familiar. So he said so aloud. "Amy," Ian said honestly, "-this room is boring me to death. Why don't we go to your room?" When he said this, he raised an eyebrow slightly and Amy's face turned slightly pink at this proposition.

"What? What's wrong with being in here?" She asked. Her fingers picked at the corner of the couch pillow that she was holding on her lap. "I mean, we were just sitting and talking... We could just stay here. Besides, aren't you sick of my room after being locked in there with me?" She added.

Ian considered this. "No," he answered her truthfully, admiring the slight blush on her cheeks. He wasn't sick of Amy's room, and he figured he wouldn't ever be. Just as he'd thought the first time he'd seen it, he thought now that the room was just such an accurate representation of Amy herself. He particularly liked her bookshelf, lined with classic books, probably her favorites, seeing as the house had a library and she could have kept her books in there...

Ian stood up and headed for the stairs.

"Why are we going to my room, though?" Amy asked, hurrying to follow Ian.

Ian shrugged. "Change of scenery," he replied, but he really was interested in taking another look at her bookshelf. And being in a room where no one would interrupt them- or at least, the chances of that dwindling down significantly- sounded good to Ian. Even if they were just... Friends. God, he was not used to thinking that.

Ian arrived at her door and she stopped, too, behind him. He pushed open her door and stepped aside to let her into the room first.

Amy walked inside and sat down on the edge of her bed. She kicked her feet slightly, tucking some hair behind one of her ears. That was almost pointless, because her red-brown hair was still falling into her face on the other side. Stop it, Ian thought, wishing she didn't make him so useless. Stop it, Amy. You're making it impossible to be friends.

"What shall we do, then?" Amy asked. She smiled at him and he felt his stomach twist painfully. He stared at her, not finding any words to reply to her with. He wanted to suggest that they read again, as they had the other day, just so that he could sneak glances at her. No, he thought forcefully. That's not what FRIENDS do... He was about to suggest something else, then, when Amy's features contorted into a sad little frown. "Why do you have to do that, Ian?" She asked him and he didn't know what she meant.

"Do what?" He muttered, distracted by her eyes.

She looked completely away from him, pink yet again spreading across her cheeks. She was still seated and he was still standing by the door. "L-l-look at me like that!" She stuttered. "I've told you before... N-not to." She crossed her arms, still frowning slightly.

Ian smiled slightly, but he felt hurt welling up inside of him at his own thoughts- yet again that Amy Cahill would never be his. "The way I look at you," he told her calmly, "-is just the way I look at you. I'm not trying to make you feel uncomfortable." He paused for a moment. "It's your fault, anyway," he added. "You're so..." Out loud, he didn't finish that sentence, but in his head, he did. Lovely, he thought.

We can only be friends.

Amy stared back at him for a moment, and he thought he saw some hurt in her eyes, though he had no idea why. Then she stood up abruptly. "I think we should start getting ready for the party," she said quietly.

Ian nodded. "Alright," he said, disappointment coursing through his veins. "I'll see you later." He said, and without another word, he slipped out of the room.

_A/N_

_I think someone was wondering- I have mentioned it before, I'm certain of it, but I am DEFINITELY a Janus branch. The website lies, okay? I'm not an Ekat xD I'm a JANUS and it's IN MY BONES AND MY BLOOD._

_DON'T WORRY THE AMIAN IS COMING OKAY_

_OH MY GOSH GUYS _**1,000+**_ THANK YOU_

_1) Would anyone be interested in me making the 38th chapter really long? Just to go out with a bang? (The following update would be an average length and the end of the story, the send off the next day at the very end of the week.)_

_2) Who's POV was best today?_

_3) What time did you wake up this morning?_

_4) Would you ever get a tattoo? xD_

_THANK YOU PS I HOPE THE LENGTH O THIS MADE UP FOR HOW LONG I TOOK TO POST IT_

_~Lovely_


	37. Attack of the Saladin

_A/N_

_Thanks, reviewers! :)_

_Only _**2**_ chapters left. _

_Disclaimer: "I do not own the 39 Clues," I whisper, stroking the monitor of my computer. _

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: Attack of the Saladin

**~Amy~**

Why is it so hard to look pretty? Amy wondered.

She'd officially asked Ian to leave her room, and now she was supposed to be getting ready for the party. She'd showered (with a plastic bag around the cast on her wrist) and now she was supposed to be doing what she assumed everyone else would be doing- getting dressed and fixing your hair or whatever.

Amy's first thought was that she could wear the dress that she'd picked out the other day with Ian. Well, the dress that Ian picked out... That thought made her face burn. But that was the first dress she'd actually felt relatively pretty in, and the realization that she couldn't wear it had set her confidence back a mile- what should she wear now?

She couldn't wear the first dress because of her cast.

It felt kind of ironic- Ian had bought the dress for her and then they'd left the store, and she'd been a stupid klutz and of course had chosen that moment to break her wrist. The cast was too large to wear with the dress's long sleeves. So Amy was subjected to wearing something she already owned, which was really depressing because she barely OWNED any dresses, anyway...

Amy was wearing a fluffy bathrobe and she was sitting on her bed. Disappointment just kept filling her up. It felt stupid to get so upset over clothes- she never had before- but she'd been looking forward to wearing that dress, that dress that made her look kind of nice.

Her dress. Her pretty gold dress, with the golden spirals running up the sleeves and the hemline of the dress. She wouldn't be wearing it. Amy sighed and stood up. I have to wear SOMETHING, she thought, moving towards her closet. She had just opened the closet door when the room door flew open, revealing Natalie Kabra, who looked... Angry.

But other than her looking angry, Amy noticed that the Kabra girl look gorgeous.

Natalie's dress was white with a v-neck, but there were gold and silver swirls all over her dress. It appeared that Natalie hadn't done anything to her hair yet- or maybe was not going to- and it hung down in its usual glossy curtain, framing her face perfectly. Amy smiled at her distant relative.

"Hi, Natalie. You look really great!" Amy told her.

Natalie scowled. "No I don't! And I won't, because that... ANIMAL of yours ripped a hole in my dress!" Natalie spun around so that Amy could see her left side, and there was indeed a little gash in the dress.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Amy said, her frown joining Natalie's. "Was he... Uhm... Attacking you?" Saladin was a nice cat, but he tended not to like Ian, and Amy knew that the cat had never held back against him. Maybe Saladin had decided he didn't like Natalie, either, though there never had been a problem between them before.

"No," Natalie answered. "I had my dress laid out on my bed, and he was SITTING ON IT, CLAWING IT."

Amy patted Natalie's shoulder. "I'm sorry. But that doesn't mean he hates you, or anything, and... Uhm... You should be glad he doesn't because he REALLY hates Ian. Anyway, though- when a cat does that, it's called kneading, and it's a natural thing cats do when they feel safe and happy."

Natalie shrugged Amy's hand off. "Do I look like I care?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Amy frowned again. "I have a sewing kit somewhere, is that what you need?"

Natalie shook her head. "No, I can sew it myself, thank you. I just wanted to alert you of what your little hairball has done... And in the future, I request that you do not give permission for anyone to let him into the guesthouse." She tapped her foot as she issued her order. Amy resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Alright, Natalie." She said, expecting that the younger girl would now leave. But instead of leaving, Natalie looked around the room, her eyes resting on Amy's dress, which was sitting rather dejectedly on a chair by her desk. The dress that she couldn't wear.

"Is that your dress?" Natalie squealed. Amy was surprised at Natalie's sudden change in mood.

"Well... Yeah, I guess." Amy said. Natalie moved to inspect it, and Amy felt even sadder that she couldn't wear it when Natalie was nodding her approval. Even Natalie Kabra, the fashion queen, liked Amy's dress, and she couldn't even wear it... "I can't wear it, though," Amy blurted.

Natalie brought the dress over to Amy, holding it up to her like she was some life-size doll. Natalie raised an eyebrow. "Why ever not?" She asked.

Amy sighed. "After I bought that dress, I had a little bit of an accident." With her good hand and wrist, she tapped her cast. "And now I can't wear the dress- the sleeves won't work with my cast on. It's too big." She frowned sadly and Natalie nodded- but then the girl's expression changed.

"I can fix that," she said easily.

Amy was surprised. "You can?"

"Of course I can!" Natalie replied, but there was a hint of a smile on her face. "I always have made it a point that I know how to sew- by machine or by hand. In case of fashion emergencies, obviously- like this one." Natalie eyed Amy's wrist cast. "Well, it'll be easy to fix, but it will take a few minutes."

"Oh, Natalie, thank you!" Amy beamed. "How can I thank you?"

"Just keep Saladin away from my things, please... And when you're done with that robe, burn it." Natalie advised, stepping towards the door with Amy's dress. "I'll be back in 10 minutes!"

"Okay!" Amy called, excitement filling her. But Natalie's head popped in the doorway.

"One more thing," she added on, sounding rushed. "Do your hair while I'm gone!" Natalie disappeared again so quickly that Amy didn't even have time to say "Okay".

Do my hair? Amy thought. She never did her hair. She didn't even know how to. She just always left it down- that way, she could hide behind it if need be... "Wow, I can't believe I just thought that," Amy said with a sigh. She walked over to her mirror and looked at herself for a moment; then she picked up a hairbrush of of her dresser, and some hair ties and pins that she kept there in a little jar but never used. "What kinds of hairstyles are there, anyway?" Amy muttered.

There was a braid. And anyone could do a braid... She could try that. Or she could try a bun, or a ponytail, like Sinead wore so often. Amy decided to try the braid, though, first, and she hoped it would look nice.

A few minutes later, Amy had a fairly decent-looking side braid. Pieces o her cinnamon hair were woven loosely together and tied off at the end. Amy found herself smiling. I kind of like it, actually, she thought. But at the same time it felt weird not to have her hair in her face. Amy remembered that multiple times this week, Ian had told her that her was in her face too much- and even that she was pretty and shouldn't hide behind her hair.

Amy's face burned again at the thought of him. She felt like HE had been her number 1 thing to stress over this week, and she was very on the fence about him- in some ways, she absolutely loved being with him. But in other ways, he made her want to never leave her room.

She thought of the sentence he hadn't finished. "You're so..."

What did that even mean?

They liked each other. And they both knew. Or... At least he liked her. Amy felt confused, and she continued to stare at her reflection, as if it might give her some answers. Just as she'd been thinking before, Amy partly liked and partly hated the fact that Ian and all of the other Cahills would be gone tomorrow morning. They'd leave.

Ian would leave.

But she didn't understand the way she felt about him. She understood it if it was presented in pieces- like, she could easily say that Ian was great when they were having one of their nicer moments, when they were alone. And she could easily say that sometimes he could act really awful when he was in a bad mood, or around too many Cahills at once.

But presented as a whole, as an entire person, Amy just felt confused.

Amy took the braid out of her hair, feeling disappointed with herself for doing so. But she didn't feel that she had the confidence to wear her hair like that. Sighing, she undid the last strand and shook her hair out again so that it fell normally. Another day looking like she always did.

At that thought, though, a bit of defiance kicked in. She could look the way she wanted to- she didn't need to hide or to care about what anyone else might think... Amy judged that Natalie would be back in a few minutes. "Okay," Amy whispered to herself. She began to re-braid her hair, but this time, a much smaller section, and she ended up with a little braid that was subtle, hiding in the rest of her hair. She did this again, a few more times, and the end she had a few scattered braids and it was a really cool effect. She liked it better than one braid.

As she was finishing up, Natalie returned with Amy's dress. Amy's heart went straight to her throat, waiting to see what Natalie could have done to fix the dress.

"Sorry, took a bit longer than I expected," Natalie declared, passing the dress to Amy. Amy gasped.

Natalie had shortened the sleeves so that they fell a few inches above the elbow. She must have used the part she cut off over the top of the remainder of the sleeves, then, because the accents of glittery gold had moved upwards, now, too, still included on the dress. Amy smiled widely. It was perfect.

"Thank you!" Amy said, meaning it from the bottom of her heart. She would have hugged Natalie, but she didn't think the younger girl would appreciate the gesture.

Natalie smiled, too. "No problem..." But suddenly her eyes popped. "I have to finish getting ready!" She yelled, running out of the room like she was on fire and looking for water. Amy giggled.

She changed from her robe to her dress and finished dressing herself up. Amy headed for the door, ready to go downstairs, where she could hear the first track of music beginning to play. Amy rested her hand on the doorknob to her door, and suddenly, her smile faltered. Ian would be down there.

"Okay, Amy," she whispered to herself. They had agreed to be friends, but he still looked at her in that way that made her feel so self conscious- in that way that meant... That he liked her. "You've got to decide," she told herself, her eyes closed for a moment. She would go downstairs and she would dance and have a good time- but more importantly, she would decide her real, final feelings on Ian Kabra- and she would decide if that meant they were really friends, or really... More.

Amy opened the door and stepped through it, but she shot one last glance at her reflection. What she saw made her smile.

I'm not pretty, she decided. I'm Amy.

**~Sinead~**

Sinead had fed Lincoln as soon as she'd gotten back to the house, and now she was putting the finishing touches on herself- a bit of makeup, taking her hair out of its ponytail...

Sinead loved her dress, and she was glad that she did. She didn't love it quite as much as that first dress she'd loved so much, the blue one- but she pushed away thoughts of that dress, because she hadn't bought it, and it had had short sleeves. Besides, she really did like her new dress.

This dress was a peachy-orange tone, and it had long sleeves. The dress was relatively simple, with no prominent accents besides the colors of the dress- but the skirt was made of orange, sparkly tulle. Sinead beamed, pleased with her dress selection. The area she was most self conscious about had always been her arms after the clue hunt- but her legs had scars, too, and Sinead's dress only went down to her knees.

Most of the scars on her legs were mid-calf and upwards. That meant she'd be showing more skin than she had in a while.

Sinead laughed aloud, sure now that her confidence was growing. It would take time, but one day, she would wear what she want and no one would care- not even herself. For now, though, she'd start with her legs, and showing more of them than she had since before the clue hunt.

Sinead felt excitement rising inside of her. It felt surprisingly good to be wearing this dress.

She grabbed her favorite necklace and voila! She was done. Besides her dress, she was wearing peach flats that she'd had with her (Sinead didn't usually wear heels- she was tall enough already) and had done a peach-pink eye shadow as her makeup, along with some eyeliner and mascara.

Her hair was now down, and her necklace was a simple silver chain with a heart on the end of it. Ned and Ted had given it to her on her birthday 3 years ago (which was also their birthday).

Sinead turned to Lincoln, who was hanging out on her bed. "I think I'll bring you to the party with me," Sinead said, stroking the cat's ears. "You can hang out with Saladin."

The door nearly burst open, and Natalie Kabra entered the room like a soldier going to war. Sinead couldn't held but be slightly amused. A few minutes ago, Natalie had been in the room with Sinead, sewing some dress that Natalie had told her was Amy's. Sinead thought it was nice that Natalie was helping out Amy, but now Natalie looked like she was ready to kill someone.

"I only have 4 minutes to finish getting ready!" She wailed.

Sinead tried her best not to smile or laugh. "Well, I'll be out of your way," Sinead promised, picking up her cat and heading for the door. But Natalie stopped her suddenly, a hand on Sinead's arm. Natalie appeared to be assessing her. Sinead sighed, waiting for Natalie to finish. Natalie stepped back, and to Sinead's surprise, she smiled.

"You look great," Natalie told her. She paused and the smile melted off of her face. "Now go away."

Sinead took her advice and left without another word, still mostly amused by Natalie and her craziness at getting ready for the party. Sinead made her way downstairs and then crossed the lawn to Grace's house. "Wow," Sinead breathed, still holding Lincoln. She hoped offhandedly that he wouldn't leave black hairs on her dress.

Grace's house looked nice. It was getting later and the sun was making it's way down the sky, but the sunset-y glow, as well as the millions of party lights everywhere, showed that this actually might be a classy party- there were even some decorations.

The front door was propped open, letting the cool, fresh summer air into the house. Sinead walked up the front steps and made her way to the door. Behind her, a bunch more people flooded out of the guesthouse and began making their way across the lawn as she had done. "We're a bit early," Sinead whispered to her cat. She stepped inside.

All the furniture had been moved out of the living room, it seemed, and that looked like what would be the dance floor. Music was playing, but right now it was playing softly and it was classical music, and Sinead assumed that the dancing would be done after dinner.

"Hey!" Nellie greeted her. The punk-ish girl was wearing a crazy green dress, and was standing with Fiske. Nellie was holding an iPod and listening to her own music. Sinead giggled.

"Hey," she greeted. Fiske rolled his eyes at Nellie, and then told Sinead politely,

"You may sit in the dining room. We will be serving the food shortly." He paused. "You may want to put your cat down, first, young lady."

"Oh, yeah!" Sinead said. She grinned. "Sorry, I brought him to play with Saladin." She set Lincoln down on the floor, and the cat raced off, probably looking for Saladin himself- the two had become quick buddies. Sinead thanked Fiske and moved on wards. She heard some voices from the dining room, which she'd only really been in a few times, when all the Cahills were eating together.

So far only Ned, Ted, Dan and Ian were seated. Ned and Ted look great, Sinead thought, grinning. Dan looked bored out of his head already, and Ian was complaining that he was hungry and that he was the only one who had arrived properly on time, to which Sinead just rolled her eyes at.

Sinead began talking to her brothers- Ned seemed extremely happy that Sinead wasn't wearing clothes that completely covered all of her limbs anymore, which was kind of embarrassing, especially because Ted joined in with congratulating her when Ned described the dress to him.

More and more people began swarming in, and the table was packed- with all of the Cahills sitting around, kids and adults alike, it it was completely full. Sinead kept looking to see if Hamilton was there yet. While she waited she saw Amy- who looked AWESOME- and Natalie, who also looked awesome but slightly miffed that she was late.

Loud conversations were struck up, and finally, the last few people came to sit. Sinead classified them as officially late, but no one seemed to really care, except for Eisenhower Holt, who was "EXTREMELY HUNGRY" and Ian and Natalie, who were both complaining about everyone else's lateness.

Sinead saw Hamilton and she waved to him- he was seated at the other end of the table, a lot of chairs down. I don't mind, she decided, from where she sat by Ned and Ted. She felt excitement rising in her at the thought of maybe, like, dancing with Hamilton later. And properly showing him her dress- he couldn't see it now, as they were both seated.

Nellie and Fiske officially served them, and Nellie had cooked all the food for the evening. It was really good- first there was this crab soup stuff with salad, and then there was this seasoned fish stuff that was, like, REALLY good. It almost made Sinead want to ask for a recipe or something.

A lot of interesting conversations were struck up, and more than once, Sinead started choking on her food because things were so funny. Particularly funny was Dan, who was on her end of the table, and had decided to tell back knock knock jokes through the entire first course- and had also managed to put pepper in Ian's soup AGAIN.

(The look of murderous rage on Ian's face was great.)

Sinead kept sneaking glances at Hamilton, too, and he seemed to be having a good time as well. Happiness settled over Sinead, and it amused her how this was such a fancy setting and such a fancy dinner, and yet, Cahills were still being Cahills, with their loud, raucous conversations.

The dinner ended with surprisingly few fights between anyone, and also the dinner ended with desert- this awesome chocolate cake that Sinead had 2.5 slices of. (What? It was REALLY good cake. And Ian didn't want his. And Natalie only had half of hers. So...)

Even though she was feeling too full to move, about an hour later, people began moving out to dance- well, the kids anyway. (And Nellie.) All the adults seemed more interested in having actual conversations now that dinner was over. Sinead felt her stomach flip when she realized that Hamilton was waiting for her by the door leading out into the hall.

She watched him carefully as she stood, and saw his face transform from friendly to surprised at what she was wearing. He likes it, right? She thought. Right?

"So, how do I look?" Sinead asked, gesturing to herself. She felt her ace turning red at him looking at her, and also because Hamilton Holt looked quite nice in a tux.

Hamilton smiled again. "You look AWESOME." He said, making her laugh. "No, but seriously, Sinead..." Hamilton said, and she knew he was thinking of the scars on her legs that were now visible. He seemed so happy for her. She smiled back at him, feeling relieved, and surprisingly, still quite comfortable.

"You do, too." Sinead said to him politely, meaning it. "So... Should we go dance?" She questioned him. In the background, Sinead saw Saladin sneak up on Lincoln, and the two began play-fighting. She giggled.

"Soon," Hamilton assured her. "But there's something I want to do first." He grabbed her hand and began leading her to the living room.

"What?" Sinead asked, honestly having not a clue as to what he wanted. Hamilton walked right out of the living room, headed for the front door. Sinead followed him, mystified, but happy to have her hand in his. Hamilton walked out the front door, where it was now completely dark- but lights on the ground made pathways, and Hamilton took one leading off left, grinning. "What are you doing?" She asked, laughing.

"You'll see," he promised. "Just wait here. I'll be right back."

Hamilton vanished, leaving Sinead alone by a rosebush to wonder what the heck he was doing.

**~Dan~**

"Tell me, what do you see?" Dan asked, pointing across the room.

Natalie sighed. "Ian, looking bored."

"Right!" Dan said cheerily. He swerved around some people who were mingling on the dance floor- I'd better get everyone dancing soon, he thought- and pulled Natalie along with him until they were at the fringe of the room, at the wall. "Don't you think it'd be nice to... Liven things up for him?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "What do you mean 'liven things up'?" She questioned. "We've already gotten in enough trouble for pranking him and Amy this week..." She paused, frowning. "Dan, has anyone ever told you that you really do look evil when you're plotting something?" Natalie added seriously. Dan laughed.

Natalie looked as perfect now in her dress as she had the first time she'd tried it on. The thought still came to mind that just as the gold and silver spirals on the dress popped out on their white canvas, the gold sparkles made Natalie's amber eyes pop. She'd also painted her nails gold and was wearing gold high heels that made her almost as tall as him.

Dan grinned at her. "You don't like making trouble?" He mocked. Natalie rolled her eyes, but she smiled at him, and Dan took this as his cue to go on. "Ian probably looks bored 'cuz Amy's locking the cats upstairs," Dan informed. "I saw her getting Saladin and Sinead's new cat. She probably doesn't want them to get into trouble down here while the party's going on." Dan's grin widened.

"Oh no," Natalie said, her eyes widening. She had some sparkly gold eyeliner on, too, and Dan thought that Natalie's good looks were rather throwing him off of his game. "Dan, you don't want to KILL Ian, do you?"

"Saladin won't kill him!" Dan promised. "Just... Mess him up a little!"

Natalie scoffed, but it ended up turning into a laugh. "I suppose he does deserve it," she said grimly. "For the whole closet thing... But you can make it look like an accident, right? I don't want to start a full out prank war or something." She shuddered. "Even if today IS the last day. I don't want my sleep ruined by pranks."

"I won't make it obvious that it was me," Dan lied, even though he knew that everyone would know it was him, anyway. "Come upstairs with me." They waited until they saw Amy returning to the party (cat-less) and they slipped away.

The two snuck off, heading up the steps. Natalie was stealthy, and Dan was not so much, but it didn't matter because no one was looking, anyway. At nearly the top of the stairs, Dan slipped, grabbing onto the banister before he could fall down the steps.

Natalie's laughter was muffled as she was trying to be quiet. "You idiot!" She chided. Dan shrugged, but he laughed, too, snickering. Dan assumed Amy had locked the cats in the second floor bathroom down the hall, as they usually did whenever the need arose to get Saladin out of the way. (Like the time they'd had the carpets done downstairs.)

"The cats are probably in there," Dan whispered, though he didn't need to now that they were out of earshot from all of the party-goers. Dan expertly opened the door ever so slightly; Saladin would probably shoot out of the bathroom if he just let him. Saladin walked up to the door, and Sinead's cat, Lincoln, was hanging out by the toilet.

"Mrrp." Saladin said.

"Hey, buddy." Dan opened the door wider and scooped his cat up. He apologized to Lincoln for leaving him in there, and closed the door with Saladin in his arms. "Say hi to Natalie, Saladin."

"Mrrp," said Saladin.

Natalie looked at the cat with slight distaste. Dan rolled his eyes. "Look, he doesn't hate you like he hates Ian," Dan stated matter-of-factly. "Pet him. I dare you."

Natalie looked incredibly hesitant- her nose wrinkling up- but she reached out a hand as Dan had told her to, and her fingers lightly made contact with the top of Saladin's head. She looked surprised, as if she had imagined Saladin would cough up a hairball on her or something. Natalie stroked his ears, and Dan even detected a hint of a smile on her face when Saladin began to purr.

As much as Dan would have liked to stay that way, Ian was downstairs and in desperate need of a little... Attention from Saladin. Still, though, Dan didn't want to break the mood right away- "Nat, you look really nice in your dress," he shared, his tone honest. Natalie paused in her petting of Saladin and looked into Dan's eyes.

"And you look nice in a suit," she said back. She smiled. "Thanks to my alterations." She eyed Saladin again, more suspiciously this time. "Though you're probably getting cat hair all over yourself."

"Small price to pay for the look Ian's gonna have on his face." Dan declared. The two headed back downstairs, Dan holding Saladin closely. Ian was where he'd been before, only now he appeared to be having a conversation with Amy. "Let's get a little closer," Dan whispered to Natalie. The two crept forward through the crowd of people, and then Dan showed Ian Saladin and let the cat loose.

Saladin immediately headed for his target.

Dan snickered, watching the cat advance, but a picture of Ian's angry face popped into Dan's mind. He was already in trouble with the older Kabra for repeating his favorite pepper soup trick... As funny as Ian getting hurt was- and it WAS funny- it wouldn't be such a good idea to stick around. The only reason Ian hadn't gone after him for the soup was because Amy had made Dan get him another bowl of soup from the kitchen.

Dan grabbed Natalie's hand a moment before Saladin reached Ian, hissing.

"Let's get out of here!" Dan advised quickly. He grabbed her hand, surprising her, and steamrolled through the crowd of dancing people, heading for the door. He laughed as he passed through the doorway, unable to leave with out catching one glimpse on King Cobra's face as Saladin attacked.

"That was so mean," Natalie said, shaking her head and laughing.

Dan grinned. "He hates me anyway."

The sun had gone down all the way now, and the stars were clear in the sky. Dan walked off the porch to get a better view, still pulling Natalie with him. Nervous happiness sprouted in his stomach. She wasn't pushing him away or anything. Maybe she wasn't unattainable- maybe she just had to get used to... This?

Dan felt like he could hear his heart beating in his ears. He wasn't teasing her so much this time- he just genuinely wanted her close to him. He smiled nervously, thinking that she was the first girl he actually really liked. But just as he had gotten comfortable being near her, she pulled away from him, their fingers breaking apart.

Disappointment filled Dan. He felt like she was sending him such mixed signals- he was confused. "Nat..." He started. "I don't get it."

He didn't understand what she wanted. Did she want to be friends with him? Or more? Or did she still somehow hate him, deciding that the stuff she didn't like about him outweighed the stuff she did like? He was confused, and it showed clearly on his face.

"I..." Natalie started. She shook her head slightly, starting over. "You don't get what?" She asked, and they both knew that she knew what he meant.

"Well... I like you." Dan said, the words sounding awkward coming out of his mouth. He wanted to resent her for making him say that. At the beginning of the week that would have been unthinkable. But he didn't resent her at all, and the light of the moon and of the light decorations caught on the pattern of her dress. "I thought you liked me, too." He added. "What does that... Mean? I mean, what do you want?"

Natalie opened her mouth and then closed it, searching for words, which she didn't usually seem at a loss for. Finally, she said, "I don't know, Dan."

Was she playing with his emotions?

"Can you please figure it out, then?" He said, wincing. He sighed. "Look, Nat. You know that I like you and stuff. But if you just want to be friends, that's cool. I like hanging out with you." He managed a smile, because he was telling the truth. "I just want to know what you're thinking. And maybe why you're thinking it."

Natalie's eyes widened. "Really Dan? You'd be okay with just being friends?"

Disappointment, in that moment, felt like it was crushing him. Crushes, he thought glumly. That's why they call it that. But he WOULD be okay- he wanted to be her friend. "I would," he told her, meaning it. "I might get kinda jealous if you like someone else, though." He'd meant to say that last bit as a joke, but he realized that it wasn't one, and he just sounded sad when he said it. His mouth felt dry and he couldn't think of anything else to say, until he blurted, "But why?"

Why did she only want to be friends when she liked him back?

"Dan... I just..." Natalie looked so sad. Dan hated this. That was the thing about relationships- all the drama. And yet he wanted to be with her, anyway. Like... In that way. Dan realized Natalie was saying something, but it was a whisper, and he barely caught her words as they left her lips. "What will everyone else think?"

Everyone else?

Slow understanding formed in his head. Oh. So that was what this was about.

"I get it," Dan said, and his voice sounded weird, thick, and not like his own. "I see. You don't want me ruining your social status. You don't want to be seen anymore with Dan the Dweeb." He didn't want to say what he was saying, but the words slipped out of his mouth anyway, and he sounded dramatic, like he was Ian or something. "I won't bother you anymore." Dan said quietly.

Before he could say anything else, he spun around and went back into the house.

"No- wait!" Natalie called, but Dan was done. He wouldn't embarrass Natalie Kabra anymore with his presence.

_A/N_

_1) Did you like the freakish length of this chapter? I'm sorry, I told y'all the chapters would be getting long..._

_2) Do you wear nail polish?_

_3) Do you own a Pillow Pet? xD_

_4) What kind of pants are you wearing right now? (Pajama pants? Jeans? NONE? xD Or a skirt/dress?)_

_Please review, and remember, I have a contest right now and it's not to late to enter it if you hurry! :)_

_~Lovely_


	38. How Things Played Out

_A/N_

_Thank you all for being so patient. I'm sorry for the wait, but look how long this is! Just to go out with a bang... Remember, tomorrow will be the sendoff, when all of our favorite Cahills go home... Which means-_

_Only _**1**_ chapter left._

_Please continue to review, and thank you guys like so much._

_Disclaimer: I hate Jake Rosenbloom. I don't own the 39 Clues._

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: How Things Played Out

**~Hamilton~**

Ham was feeling an incredible amount of hope- and also nervousness.

He fumbled around in the dark of Dan's room, thinking that Sinead's surprise was right in his suitcase... But unfortunately, Hamilton couldn't see where exactly the suitcase WAS in the dark. Tripping over a pile of Dan's stuff, he stumbled back to the doorway, flipping the switch to turn the light on.

"That's better," Hamilton muttered to himself. He spotted his suitcase and headed towards it eagerly. When he reached it, he unzipped it, and swept the item off the top with a flourish. Despite his nerves, he smiled at his gift for Sinead- it was the dress he'd gotten her earlier.

He'd been thinking he could give it to her tomorrow morning, at the sendoff. But the idea had come to his mind to just do it now, maybe in a more private way, since all the Cahills would probably be at the airport tomorrow, waiting for flights that would all be within a few hours of each other...

Hamilton started for the door again, but then remembered that he'd gotten a necklace for Sinead, too. He hurried to grab that from his suitcase, and then he straightened his tie and headed downstairs again.

In the living room, there seemed to be something everyone was looking at over by the wall, but Hamilton didn't stop to look. Oh... It was just Ian getting attacked by Saladin again. The usual.

Sinead was waiting for Hamilton, so he didn't stick around. As he made his way towards the door to the outside, he carefully folded the dress somewhat, so that he could hide it behind his back.

Hamilton followed the lighted pathway until he found Sinead waiting expectantly where he'd left her, curiosity displayed on her pretty features. Hamilton hadn't ever really bought a present for a girl. He hoped she'd like it...? Approaching her, he held the gift behind his back, as he had planned to do, and he summoned up a smile (which wasn't hard to do).

"Back," he said, stopping in front of her.

At the sight of her in her peachy-orange dress, a bigger smile broke out on his face. He felt reassured now that she might like the present of the blue dress- because already tonight, she had taken a step forward by wearing a dress that stopped at the knee. Her arms were still covered now, but in time...

He felt a little less like the scars were his fault, now, even though he secretly wasn't sure he'd ever get entirely over that. Because she looked so pretty, and confident, and that made him feel good in a really interesting way- like he was proud of her. When she was happy, he was happy- maybe even happier than her.

Was that a side effect of liking someone?

"So what is this mysteriousness?" Sinead asked, her eyes shining intelligently. For a moment she was completely captivating to him, and he wondered for the millionth time how a girl like her could like a guy like him. But she smiled at him, and it reassured him because he could see that she liked him in that smile, and it made thrills shoot through his chest, still a new feeling to him, only caused by Sinead Starling.

"A present." Hamilton responded. He brought the dress out from behind his back, the necklace carefully placed on top of it. The main sources of light were the string lights on the ground and also the moon, which made everything look a bit silvery. Sinead first squinted her eyes, trying to make out exactly what he was holding- and then she gasped and tentatively reached out a hand to touch the gift. "Do you like it?" He asked.

"It's the dress I liked!" Sinead breathed, touching the fabric. She looked up at him. "The one I didn't buy because it had short sleeves."

"I know," Hamilton said. "I just saw how much you liked it. I thought maybe you'd like it as... Kind of, like, a goal to work towards." Hamilton said thoughtfully. "Like maybe when you really feel comfortable enough to wear it, and let a few of your scars show..." He looked at her.

"You make me look really bad," Sinead offered quietly after a moment of silence, a hint of a laugh in her voice. "You're so... Nice."

Now it was Hamilton's turn to laugh. He wasn't really all that nice- he didn't want to bring up the, er, computer incident, but that was an example. Sinead was nice, too, and he didn't think anyone could make someone like her look bad. "I'm glad you like it," he said, mildly mystified at her words.

"I DO. I love it, actually. Thank you, Hamilton." Sinead said, grinning.

"You're welcome." He said, and for a moment, he wanted to kiss her, and he wanted that more than anything in the world- but he was still holding his present for her, and he felt that he should put it down or something first. "Uhm," Hamilton muttered. There was no good place to put Sinead's dress, seeing as they were outside.

The music inside seemed to increase in volume all of the sudden, and Hamilton heard a few loud cheers as it did. Sinead giggled and Hamilton carefully draped her dress with the necklace on a rosebush beside the path. Sinead shot him a weird look. "Trying to make it smell like roses?" She asked him, joking.

"Nah," he replied. "Just... Getting it out of the way." He moved closer to her, slowly and deliberately, his heartbeat speeding up in his chest, a small smile on his lips.

But at the very last second she pulled away from him, and she grabbed his wrist and pulled him off a few feet down the path with her (surprisingly) strong grip. There was a wooden bench there (there were a few around the garden), and she sat down, still holding onto his hand, and she used the other to pat the seat beside her like he should sit, too.

He sat, but he frowned, disappointed that she hadn't let him kiss her. When he looked into her eyes, they looked amused and mischievous, and she laughed at him. "Don't look so sad," she said, but he thought that was rather easy for her to say, because she herself was grinning. He felt like he wanted to be grumpy because this was their last night together, after all, in this week- and come tomorrow, he wouldn't see her again for a while.

But even though that was a reasonable point in his mind, it must not have been reasonable enough, because he wasn't mad at her at all, and he was coming to realize that it kind of took a lot for him to be mad at her.

They sat there in a comfortable almost-silence for a bit (slight music still wafted over the breeze, with the occasional sound of a laugh or a cheer) , their shoulders brushing and their fingers intertwined.

"Hamilton?" Sinead said after a while, and he liked the sound of her saying his name, because he got the sense was she was saying it that he was special to her. He liked that a lot, actually.

"Yeah?" He said, turning to look at her. She, however, did not move her thoughtful gaze from where it rested- she looked out into the darkness in front of them, broken up occasionally by more lighted paths. It took a moment for her to say anything, caught up in her thoughts as she often was, her Ekaterina brain working at a higher speed than the average human's- she had more thoughts to sift through than him.

"We've come far this week," she said suddenly, and they had.

In a sense, that first day felt so long ago to Hamilton. He had taken so many steps with Sinead that it felt like that first day, when they'd both honestly believed that she hated him, had been some other year or something. But he'd spent SO much time with her- and he wasn't sick of her now, he liked her because of it. He knew her a lot better.

He wondered if he'd even be in a position like this one with her if this week had not taken place- or if Hamilton and Sinead had both been paired off with someone else as their partners.

Hamilton smiled. "We did a lot of stuff," he supplied. "I think it got kinda crazy at some points." He paused. "Like... That time in the diner, when we were dancing."

"That was great," Sinead said, a little less thoughtful now, grinning along with him. "In a totally weird way," she added, and he laughed. "We should go back there some time..." Hamilton was about to add something else to their conversation when Sinead went on, saying, "And we played so much chess..."

"My new favorite hobby." Hamilton joked. "And we watched that movie."

"Don't remind me!"

He laughed at her and she poked his arm, rolling her eyes, but her smile was beautiful and obvious and he liked it.

"And you saved my cat," Sinead said.

"And we went to the car wash." Hamilton responded.

"And we played soccer." Sinead grinned, nodding.

"And I won." Hamilton said with a grin that held a hint of an actual smirk. Sinead rolled her eyes at him again.

"You also won me Ian the goat." She said matter-of-factly, and that never failed to crack both of them up. After a brief bout of laughter, he was left smiling. We also kind of had a nasty fight, he thought, thinking back to the computer thing again- but then he relaxed, knowing that was behind them and they were both sorry because they'd both been acting ridiculously...

"I'm really, really happy with the way this week turned out." Hamilton said honestly, his eyes flickering downwards to where their hands were connected. Sinead's cheeks turned slightly red, and he thought it actually looked rather nice, especially with the silver tinted light of the moon. It also made her eyes look very vivid.

"Me too." She said, and this time when he leaned towards her slowly, she let him kiss her.

Hamilton silently reminded himself to thank Amy later, because he totally had her to thank as the person who kind of indirectly got him and Sinead together. Right? Plus, she'd listened to him on the phone the other day when he'd needed to know about love, because it had been confusing him.

Kissing Sinead now, he wasn't sure just yet if he could call this love. But he knew that he really, really, really liked her- and maybe with a little bit of time... He really would fall in love with her.

If he wasn't already.

This was a good week, Hamilton thought as he drew away from her, straightening up from their kiss, and the air smelled like roses and summer night.

Then he became lost in her eyes, and in that moment, the only thing left in the world was her- and admittedly, he kind of liked it that way.

**~Natalie~**

What did I do?

Natalie stared blankly at the door, Dan long gone now after nearly two minutes.

The sun had gone down and it was completely dark out now besides the moon and all those lights that Natalie had made Dan put up for her and trail along the ground to make neat little pathways...

The scene that Natalie had just played a part in was looping in her mind, on repeat- the hurt she'd seen in Dan Cahill's eyes before he'd walked away. Hurt that SHE'D put there... She once would have told you that Dan (annoyingly) seemed titanium; that he could not be hurt. He would always bounce back, and would not ever let anyone else let him down- at least, not a Kabra.

Natalie forced herself to move and she stepped up onto the porch, and pushing aside slight worries that she might dirty her dress, she sat down on the top step, and she sighed.

It felt so 50-50 to her. There were so many things she really, honestly had come to like about Dan. But that in itself was hard enough for her to accept, and the concept that other people might find out she liked him sounded horrifying to her. She could just imagine getting teased and laughed at, and Natalie hated that more than anything else in the world- being ridiculed. Made a joke of. And the Cahills often seemed to specialize in that particular field.

Would being with Dan make people laugh at her?

Natalie felt tears coming on, and she wished she didn't, because if she did cry, she'd LOOK as much a mess as she felt- and she'd always prided herself on being able to fake a smile. This time around though- and the second time this week- she seemed to be crying over Dan Cahill, tears indeed really coming to her eyes and blurring her vision.

I feel like an idiot, she thought, and that thought hurt, but she did feel that way. For a few different reasons.

And she knew she was being shallow.

No matter what, the Cahills would always manage to poke fun at Natalie and at each other. They were 'family', and that was what they did. Sure, maybe the idea that she liked Dan and that he liked her back might surprise everyone if they found out. And yes, some people would laugh. But they would get over it eventually. There would be some new drama to obsess over, and everyone would get used to her and Dan... Right?

Kind of?

So why had she just done that to Dan? Why couldn't she face the consequences of liking him? She felt incredibly selfish.

She wiped her cheeks, sniffling. She felt terrible, actually, at the selfishness that she'd been conveying. What did she expect? That she could have both Dan and the maintenance of her social perception? Did she think that she could somehow... Like Dan, in that secret way for forever? Not letting anyone else know?

Dan didn't work like that. He wouldn't want something like that. And she didn't really want it either.

Natalie stood up, brushing out the wrinkles in her skirt. She gave a final sniffle and wiped away a final tear, determined to go and fix the things that she'd messed up. It was funny- she never usually felt like cleaning up after herself. But this time... She had to go get Dan back, because as annoying as it was, her heart was already starting to hurt at the thought that he might be actually upset because of her.

She took a deep breath and re-entered the party, easily pretending to be her usual, collected self. She looked around casually, but her flickering gaze did not land on Dan, and she felt her heart sinking inside of her chest. How am I supposed to say a blasted sorry without him here? She thought, annoyed.

Expertly weaving through the crowd of many Cahills, Natalie headed for the stairs, thinking that Dan was in his room. Natalie slowed down when she reached the second floor, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. She slowly approached Dan's door, and she didn't want to knock on it, but she had to...

Natalie felt something brushing against her leg, and, startled, she looked down to see Saladin the cat. Natalie frowned, stepping away from him. She was allergic to cats, and if she was in contact with one for a prolonged time, then things did not go so well for her.

Still, the cat admittedly was kind of... Cute. Natalie bent down and found herself petting the cat on the head, avoiding knocking on the door, which she knew she'd have to do at some point. The cat was as pleasant towards her as it had been earlier.

But apparently she didn't have to knock, because the door opened and Dan walked out, nearly bumping into Natalie. He stopped short and Natalie straightened up quickly, fixing the bottom of her dress. It was not usual that Natalie Kabra didn't have anything to say, and as usual, she DID have something to say- right now, it was just more a matter of actually SAYING it.

Dan looked rather emotionless, which Natalie found she hated. His face didn't look right that way- he was supposed to smile, to grin and laugh at her or with her or at himself. It was quiet, and Saladin broke the ice first;

"Mrrp."

Dan's eyes seemed to bore into Natalie's. "What do you want?" He asked seriously, and Natalie hated the tone of his voice right now, too.

"I'm sorry," she managed, and she also managed not to wince at having to apologize. "I didn't exactly mean what I said. That's- that's not how I wanted to say it." Natalie cursed herself for stumbling slightly on her words. She didn't even like what she'd said, and she crossed her arms out of habit, feeling defensive of herself.

"It's fine, Natalie. I told you I wouldn't bother you anymore." Dan responded, his voice calm and quiet. Natalie felt like someone had injected shards of ice into her veins. On the floor, Saladin "Mrrp"ed again, and Dan stepped aside to let the cat into his room.

As the second silence grew longer, Natalie could depict more hurt in his eyes, and it embarrassed her. Because SHE'D put that there- and she didn't like what was taking place between them right now. "No, Dan." Natalie said, and she cleared her throat before continuing. "I am sorry. It's stupid... To worry about what other people think. I've just lived my whole life that way, I suppose, and it can be hard to break habits like that." Her eyes were wide and she couldn't see herself, so for once, she hoped that her feelings could be seen in her eyes and on her face as well as within her words.

She wanted him to see her using sincerity.

Dan frowned slightly. "C'mon, Natalie. You don't need to do this." He said, rolling his eyes slightly. "I was being a little dramatic before. Maybe you're brother's rubbing off on me." Dan said. She said nothing, and he said, "We can just be friends. I know that's what you want."

It's not! Natalie wanted to scream, starting to feel a little, tiny bit hysterical. It's NOT what I want. This was so HARD. Lord help me, Natalie thought, shaking her head to try and clear her thoughts. She took a deep breath. "That's not really what I want." She said aloud. "I know I never really SAID so... But... I like you, Dan. Annoyingly enough so that I would come upstairs to prove a point to you after I've messed things up."

She held her breath, and he just looked really surprised for a long time, considering her words. "That's what you want?" He said softly. "Uh... To be... Uh... More than friends?"

Natalie felt like her heart was getting squeezed inside of her chest. She nodded numbly, staring at Dan and thinking that she'd NEVER thought something like this would happen to her, but that at the same time, it seemed normal now. Okay. Okay to like Dan Cahill. Because in some ways, Natalie had to grow up and stop considering herself so much better than everyone else.

That was like... Something Isabel would do. And Natalie didn't really want to be like her.

"You sure?" Dan said, his eyes wide. He was still serious, but now there was this obvious underlining of hopefulness, and it made Natalie want to laugh but also cry. She nodded again, slowly at first, and then vigorously, thinking that Dan Cahill had a strange effect on her vocal cords.

"I'm sure, you idiot." She said, regaining herself somewhat. "Now don't just stand there." Natalie added almost chidingly, and her heart hammered in her chest and for a moment, she wondered if this might be her first kiss with Dan Cahill, here, outside of his bedroom doorway. But she didn't really want to kiss him- not just yet. She was still getting used to... Him. Dan. Kissing him might be pushing it for her.

And so, with her words, she just stepped forward herself, pulling him closer to her in a hug, and she decided that she quite liked the action she'd chosen to accompany her words, and she quite liked the feeling of her head resting against his chest. She breathed out slowly.

Natalie found that her heart rate had actually slowed down now, and she relaxed now, feeling a terrifying yet exciting feeling in her stomach, a kind of unsteady feeling- but like she was entrusting herself to someone else, or something. Letting herself be hugged by Dan Cahill. (Or hugging him, first, really.)

And of course, he was hugging her back, a tiny bit awkwardly at first, but then he got the hang of it, like they had seemed to do last night, at the tailors. But this was better than that.

They swayed slightly, and Natalie realized that she could hear the music downstairs, and if she concentrated hard, she could feel it in the soles of her feet, the beat pulsing through the floor. Natalie was smiling widely into Dan's suit, and she was glad he couldn't see her face because she would have embarrassed herself with the degree of her smile.

Dan smelled like a combination of new suit and sugar.

Natalie felt a burst of happiness and kind of a burst of freedom. She didn't care what anyone else might think now. Or rather, she would- but she would not let it influence her decisions anymore, if she could help it. It mattered to be a respectable, presentable person, but she needed to start making choices based on herself and not on other people.

Natalie pulled away first, mildly horrified at the length of time they'd stayed like that. (Though neither of them had exactly complained... Hm.)

Dan had this big goofy grin on his face and it made her cheeks begin to turn the littlest bit pink. (If you were going to get technical, though, Dan was actually sorta blushing, too. Maybe it was a Cahill sibling thing, and Dan had gotten it from Amy. The thought made Natalie want to smirk.)

Dan was still grinning at her like an idiot, and she rolled her eyes and muttered, "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything!" Dan protested. (Happily?)

Natalie was at a well-enough distance away from him now that she could breath properly again, and so she said, an absolute smile in her voice, "Dan, let's go downstairs and dance." In that moment in felt liberating to have Dan on her side, and she was glad that they were friends rather than foes now. It suddenly felt like her week with Dan represented herself changing, as well as all the other Cahills in this metamorphosis- kind of... Changing for the better.

They went downstairs to dance, and Natalie didn't care what anyone else thought.

(Dan was a terrible dancer. He did not have the Moves Like Jagger.)

The staring was surprisingly minimal. Mostly, everyone was having a good time, and Natalie was quite pleased and relieved to see that. Maybe things hadn't ended up so classy as she wanted them to (okay, not even close...), but this was... Well, fun. And Natalie could see people coming in and out of the house, too, which proved to Dan that the time he'd spent when she was making him put up lights was worth it.

If a slow song came into the mix someone went over to the iPod with the playlist and changed it. This was slightly annoying to Natalie, but also kind of super relieving. (What? She didn't want to slow dance with anyone. Not... Yet.)

It might have been a little weird to see Natalie Kabra having a good time with Dan Cahill- and not in a way that meant she was inflicting violence upon him- as in, an actual good time. They weren't at each other's throats anymore. They were friends but a little bit more than that, which Natalie knew Dan liked as much as she did.

People did start to stare, though, when Natalie finally couldn't take Dan's atrocious dancing anymore and walked away nearly doubled over with laughter that hurt her stomach. Somebody rude called out, "What's wrong with Natalie?" But she actually didn't really care.

Natalie made her way over to the snack table that Nellie had set up, the last of her laughter dying down. She poured herself some punch and walked to the wall, leaning against it and watching the younger Cahills dancing and the adults present lining the other walls, trying to talk and some were actually trying to dance. (The other adults were still chatting in the dining hall.)

It was easy from where Natalie stood to see who of the Cahills could dance (Jonah Wizard, Reagan Holt, Sinead Starling) and who really couldn't (still Dan, plus Madison Holt and Phoenix Wizard... Poor children were a sorry sight to see).

Natalie was crowd-watching when Dan seemed to pop up right next to her- she hadn't even seen him and his bad dance moves come her way. (She'd previously witnessed him create a dance move he called the Twisty Crab, which involved him holding up his hand like they were claws and sort of half-squatting, then running around in figure-eight loops, spinning like his life depended on it... It was terrifying.)

"Hey," Dan said a little breathlessly- probably from all that 'dancing'- and he smiled at her. "Why aren't you dancing?" Dan asked.

"I needed a break," Natalie responded. She held her punch cup up so that Dan would notice it. "A punch break," she added.

Dan turned to the table, surveying what it held atop its surface. He frowned at an empty plastic bowl. "The chips are all gone," he complained.

"Don't look at me, I didn't eat them." Natalie said, smirking at his unhappiness.

Dan's frown deepened. "No chips..." He murmured, and he suddenly sounded so sad that Natalie almost felt bad for him. Then she remembered that he was sad over a snack food. She was about to snap some witty retort to him when Dan suddenly picked up the plastic bowl, inspected it for a moment, and placed it on top of his head.

Natalie's nose wrinkled up, and she resisted the urge to laugh. "Ew, Dan, WHAT are you doing?"

Dan ignored her and turned back to the crowd, walking there with the bowl still on his head. When he was halfway there he began to walk like a robot.

Natalie winced, but it turned into a tiny laugh. Nearly an entire week spent with him, and he still hardly made any sense to her... "Dan, you're a complete idiot," Natalie muttered, though he was long gone. But she found herself biting back more laughter.

She had a crush on a boy who'd just robot-walked away with a chip bowl on his head.

**~Ian~**

He'd just been trying to initiate a conversation with her.

He'd just wanted to talk to her, to try and be on good terms with her as FRIENDS, but NO- that wild animal that Amy and Dan called their pet cat had come to destroy Ian's good looks. (Or something; he was not exactly aware of the beast's motives, actually only really that it wished to inflict pain upon him.)

The cat- that demon- seemed to rocket out of nowhere, and immediately Ian could see from the corner of his eye that Amy's face had turned crimson- had she not JUST supposedly locked the cat upstairs?

Saladin fairly flew. It was unfair. That creature didn't even have wings.

Amy looked numbly horrified, and as Saladin landed in Ian's lap, Ian shot up like an arrow out of his seat. The cat slid downwards, trying to find a hold on Ian's clothes and leaving a few nasty rips in his expensive suit. Ian stumbled backwards, and in an elegant crash he tripped over his chair, landing on his back.

Saladin stalked forward, the face of utter evil evident on him. (In Ian's opinion.) Amy finally moved, quickly getting out of her seat and trying to grab the cat. Saladin lunged, aiming for Ian's face, but he attempted to push the cat off of him. Ian let out a hiss of pain as Saladin sliced away at his hand.

Amy finally got a hold on her cat. Her face was flaming red- Saladin seemed to have attracted a crowd. (Some of which were laughing at Ian.) Ian hurried to pick himself up off of the floor, wincing at the pain in his right hand.

"It's NOT funny to be mauled," Ian snarled at the Cahills who were watching. Angrily, he marched off towards the bathroom, intending to look at his hand and then clean it up.

"Ian, wait!" Amy called, sounding as horrified as she had looked. Ian ignored her.

He looked down at himself in disgust- his suit was probably ruined.

He opened the bathroom door and it made a loud bang, and the sound accompanied his annoyance. He found the light switch and turned it on, light pooling downwards from the ceiling to illuminate a blue bathroom with white floor tiles. (Which Ian hardly stood there appreciating.)

Ian turned on the sink and shoved his hand under it. He let out a curse at the water, which he'd hastily turned on- it was boiling hot, and the intensity of the water didn't feel so good on his sliced up hand. Gasping slightly, he shook the water off of his hand.

Amy appeared at the doorway, looking a mix of worried and embarrassed. "Ian! Are you alright?" She said, catching her breath, and Ian imagined that she'd run upstairs with her monster cat and locked him away. "I'm so, so sorry- I swear I locked him in the bathroom upstairs. I'm so sorry- are you okay?"

Ian glared. He wasn't really glaring at HER, though he supposed it was her fault that the cat had gotten out... But still, he wasn't really mad at her, he was just mad in general, and felt like suggesting that Amy donate Saladin to being a research test subject for the Ekaterinas and their medical drugs.

"Do I look okay?" Ian asked with a sigh, his voice edged with sarcasm. Amy's eyes fell on his hand and she frowned, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth.

Ian looked down, too, and his hand really didn't look so good.

It was pink and swelling, crisscrossed with scores of cat scratches that probably weren't too deep but stung incredibly so, and were welling up with blood. Ian cursed again.

Amy's frown deepened, and she looked so upset. Wow, Ian thought, surprised. He felt like telling her it was fine, he was fine- not to worry. Psychopathic cats attacking him was a completely normal event. But he did no such thing, his mouth wired shut with a bad-tempered scowl- and he didn't even say anything when Amy opened the small cabinet on the wall by the door and took out a first aid kit.

Amy opened the first aid kit and selected a roll of gauze. Ian watched, confused- surely she could just let him do this himself?

But he remembered when he had been stuck with Amy in her room earlier in the week- when they had been trying to get out, that grate had smacked her on the forehead, and he'd cleaned up the gash the grate had caused. But that was because he felt a sense of... Loyalty to her, or something, or protectiveness over her, even then. He wouldn't think that she'd want to help HIM.

Amy was quiet, and nearly expressionless, and he found that she had taken his hand in hers- carefully, as it was covered in scratches, mostly on the back of his hand but some on his palm- and she'd turned on the sink. Amy, unlike Ian, had her head screwed on right, and she set the water to a lukewarm temperature and waited a few moments for the water to adjust, her hand lightly holding onto Ian's.

Ian felt his heart stirring in his chest, and that hurt a lot more than cat scratches ever would. He was coming to realize now how bad it really felt to like someone who only wanted to be friends, and barely even that.

Amy moved Ian's hand under the water, and Ian felt the scratches stinging as they came into contact with the water, though he didn't make a sound. Ian's eyes flickered towards the mirror over the sink, and he saw Amy's expression, still the same as it had been before- almost emotionless, but concentration was hinted there.

Amy took a bar of soap off of the counter part surrounding the sink, and she said, "This will sting a little." As if he didn't already know that it would.

She gently cleaned the cat scratches on his hand, and it did indeed sting.

Amy rinsed his hand a second time to wash out the soap, and immediately after doing so, his hand felt entirely better, the irritation and swelling going down almost at once. Ian realized that he was standing very rigidly, stiffly, and so he relaxed, and he found that that was easy to do under Amy's gentle touch.

Ian's thoughts easily became incoherent. It felt unfair to suddenly have the tables turned on him- all of his life, he'd been the charmer, the one that could easily occupy girl's thoughts. He could make them blush just by smiling at them. He was confident, easily good at knowing how to play himself up. But now that felt stupid in comparison to the way Amy made him feel- Ian wasn't sure all of those girls had really ever liked him, but he definitely liked Amy.

She just looked so... Perfect right now. She had braided a few strands of her hair, and he liked the way it looked- there was a little less hair in her face now, and so he could see her jade green eyes more clearly. She looked as perfect in her dress as she had the first time she'd tried it on, and, looking at her now, Ian felt an stupidly insistent ache reach his heart- she seemed to be moving with more confidence tonight, but she still had no idea about the effect she had on him.

Her dress really did make her eyes stand out, and she didn't need any makeup to be pretty.

How was he supposed to just be friends with her?

That doesn't make any sense, he decided quietly. It seemed impossible. She would either be his or he would not want to see her at all. He would prefer solitary pain over the pain of being near to her but being much too far away, in that sense... Because he was selfish, and he wanted her to belong to him and if he couldn't have what he wanted, then he would not allow himself to stick around.

He completely threw away the idea that they could be 'just friends'.

Amy was done with his hand now, and she turned away from him for a moment, selecting the roll of gauze that she'd set aside before. Ian moved to sit down on the lidded surface of the toilet, because he was suddenly getting that jelly-legs feeling that he'd always thought was either a) a stupid myth or b) something that only happened to girls. He hated the feeling, and accompanying it, he felt a bit sick to his stomach.

If Amy had been looking at Ian's face, she would have seen so many emotions in his eyes- but she wasn't looking there, she was looking anywhere but, actually, and now she'd taken the roll of gauze and she'd just begun to wrap it around his hand. The fresh scars on his hand too big of a surface for any old band-aid.

He looked up into her concentrated green eyes, and he wanted her, more than anything. And all of the sudden, she was done, done wrapping his hand- and all of it had happened so quickly but in a way it felt like it had taken a million years, because he'd had so many thoughts, but it hadn't been long enough- and it was unfair that he should have such a little period of time to actually be close to her.

"We're even now." Amy said rather cheerily, oblivious to his inner turmoil. She did, however, look a little bit more shy when she added, "You know, because you helped me after the air vent thing."

Ian looked down at his hand, freshly bandaged and clean- it didn't even really sting at all anymore. Ian felt like his throat was constricting, and he suddenly couldn't take his feelings anymore. This was absolutely maddening- he would not stand for this anymore. He would not tolerate being FRIENDS with her. He would be more or he would be nothing, and he knew that he was irrational and acting before thinking but he didn't even care anymore, and so, when he stood up, he kissed her.

The better half of him was upset at the kiss. He HADN'T kissed her before, because he'd known she hadn't wanted it. He'd done the right thing then, backing off. But this was not backing off. It was the completely opposite- it was advancing, and he should not be kissing her at all, but the worse half-the much more selfish half- of him was just thinking about how good it felt.

She still smelled like cinnamon to him, and his thoughts became nothing except for feelings, and so that was what went into the kiss- feelings. A whole lot of them. Maybe a little too personal for a first kiss between two people, but he was not about to hold back. When he kissed her, he realized just how long he'd been waiting to do so.

There was sadness there on his part, because the better part of him knew that this might be their only kiss. Ever. But there was so much want in him- he didn't care anymore. He wanted it to be obvious that he was honest about liking her, even about loving her. It felt very shocking but completely true to him that she was one of the only few people he cared about in the world anymore, and she meant very, very much to him.

But he was still willing to rip himself away from her completely after this kiss, when she would tell him that she didn't love him back.

When he thought that, his arms wrapped around her, bringing her even closer. He didn't exactly like the idea that she wouldn't return the feelings he had for her...

He expected her initial shock; maybe she'd be frozen for a few seconds. But she didn't push him away, even after those first few seconds, as he'd imagined that she'd do. She was stone-still, but she didn't move away. For some reason this felt worse, her unresponsiveness, than he'd thought it would feel when she pulled away.

What are you thinking, Amy? He wanted to know, and as much as he hated it, desperation was creeping into his thoughts. Amy Cahill had wrecked him- she'd made him so much more of an actual person.

Ian couldn't stand it anymore. He had to know what she was thinking, and he pulled away from her, but it was as if his arms weren't responding to his brain- they were instead connected directly to his heart, then, and he couldn't bring himself to step away from her completely.

And there he stood, tangled up with Amy Cahill, and neither of them knew what to say.

"Sorry?" Ian tried, making his voice work. But he wasn't sorry at all.

_A/N_

_There it was, the WHOPPER chapter. Guys, WAS IT GOOD? I SPENT FOREVER ON IT I REALLY HOPE YOU LIKED IT. (I try the hardest on getting people as IC as I can. That matters most to me.)_

_ONLY 1 MORE UPDATE GUYS AHHHH_

_1) SHOULD I MAKE A _**SEQUEL**_? (Currently, I have no plans for this. I was never planning on a sequel. But I'll see what you guys say before I completely rule out the idea- a few of you have already mentioned a sequel, but I suggest that if you'd like for me to make one, you add me to your alerts and tell me here in a review that you want one.)_

_2) Llamas or lions?!_

_3) Who's POV did you enjoy the most in this update?_

_4) What is your favorite joke?_

_Thanks for the feedback!_

_~Lovely_


	39. Girl Power and The End

_A/N_

_Guys, it's been an amazing ride from chapter 1 to chapter _**39**_... I went into this hoping to just get some practice writing, and have fun writing about some of my favorite book characters. But I feel really awesome now, because of the support this story has gained- like I've said before, I don't care if this doesn't stay the most reviewed story in the fandom. It just means a lot to me that it got there in the first place, and I hope you guys know that I read every single review, and they always make me smile and feel better if I was in a bad mood or something._

_Basically, thank you to every reader, reviewer, subscriber, favoriter... Your encouragement has meant a lot to me because I love to write, so much so that sometimes it's all I want to do. If I ever make it to being an actual author, like I hope to do, it'll feel nice to know that I started out here and had so much support._

_I am going to miss writing this._

_Without further ado, I present to you the final chapter of Partners Week!._

_Disclaimer: The 39 Clues do not belong to me. I hope you enjoy the final bit of this story- I worked hard to give it an ending that you guys have earned. I mean I REALLY, REALLY hope you like it._

**FREAKING** CHAPTER **THIRTY-NINE**: Girl Power/**The End**

**~Sinead~**

The airport air conditioning seemed like it was on too high- to the point where Sinead was actually cold, even though the sun was shining through big, clear windows.

The building wasn't too busy at this earlier hour, but there were plenty of people around, and even more to add to that 'plenty' once all the Cahills started showing up.

Everyone was taking their own respective means of getting there, which meant that Sinead, Ned and Ted had hitched a cab as their form of transportation. Lincoln sat beside Sinead, to her left, in his band-new cat carrier, where he would wait until being taken on the flight. Sinead almost wished she could take her cat out and start petting him, but that wasn't a good idea, unless she maybe wanted to be kicked out of the airport.

To Sinead's right sat Ted, and off in front of them, by the window, was Ned, watching the planes take off or land every now and then.

Sinead checked her watch. She approximately half an hour before she was to board her flight with Ned and Ted, and Hamilton had told her that his own family's flight would be leaving after hers. Did that mean that he wouldn't be here in time to say goodbye?

Ted's nearly-sightless eyes stared out in front of him, and they were such a brilliant shade of blue- if you hadn't known he was nearly blind, you might have guessed that he was watching his brother, almost directly in front of him a few yards away. As usual, Sinead felt a big hole opening up inside of her- it always hurt her to think about her brothers' injuries.

Ned seemed to be doing well today, though, and hadn't had any headaches on the way there, and he didn't appear to be having any right now. Still, Sinead wished that she and Ted could be standing beside Ned, and that all of them could watch the planes at once, together.

Instead, Sinead sat on the bench and waited, holding Ted's hand.

"Are you hungry?" Sinead commented suddenly, her own stomach gurgling. "I didn't eat at the house. All that was left in the fridge of the guesthouse were Alistair's burritos."

Ned said nothing for a moment, and then when he did speak, it was not a response to what she'd said. Instead, he turned to her and he asked, "Where's Hamilton? Don't tell me he's not coming to see you off?"

At the mention of the Holt, Sinead could feel red rising on her cheeks. "He'll come," she said defiantly, but she really had no idea. She only hoped what she said was true. "What about your partner?" Sinead saw Ned turning back from his place at the big window, headed her way to join her and Ted. Sinead moved Lincoln's cat carrier and patted the space beside her, indicating that Ned should sit down.

"I said goodbye to Jonah last night," Ted replied to Sinead. "His flight's in an hour or so, and he wanted to get some more sleep. Beauty sleep."

Sinead snickered, and Ned sat down beside her. She took his hand, too, and it felt nice to sit with them like that. "How DID you get along with Jonah?" She asked Ted curiously. She turned to Ned. "And how'd you do with Madison? Er, I know it doesn't seem like us Starlings would get along with the Holts..." Ted began to laugh and Sinead swatted his leg. "Don't make jokes!" She said, blushing again. She hadn't said anything to Ned yet about Hamilton.

"Relax, Sinead, I know about you and Hamilton." Ned said shortly. Sinead gasped.

"Ted!" She exclaimed, knowing that her brother had told on her. He just smiled. Sinead wasn't really mad, though. Just a bit embarrassed. Before she could say anything else, though, Ned added,

"It's okay, Sinead. Ted and I have been waiting for that to happen for a while now." His tone was casual, and Sinead shot him a look of utter disbelief.

"What? I hated him at the start of the week!" Sinead said, confused. "I mean, I really did. I hated him."

Ted was still grinning. From the other side of Sinead he added to their conversation, "Maybe it's because I'm blind, but I think I have a bit of a knack for knowing that stuff now... You held on the longest, Sinead. You held the biggest grudge. I suspected you'd forgive the Holts eventually, and Hamilton is a nice guy. You LIKE nice guys."

Sinead was definitely red. "Shut up, guys." She said crabbily. But inside she was secretly thrilled. That meant both Ned and Ted were alright with her and Hamilton.

"To answer your earlier question, though," Ted added, "I actually had a really good week. Jonah isn't as big of an idiot as I thought he was. And he makes a pretty good pair of eyes- he's good at describing things. Probably because he's a Janus." He nodded thoughtfully to his words, and after a pause, he added, "I think we're actually friends now."

"That's great," Sinead said, beaming. She was glad to know that one of her brothers had made a friend this week, too. "And you and Madison?" Sinead asked, turning to Ned.

"It was really weird for a while," Ned admitted. "I mean, she's all into sports and stuff and me... Not so much. I do like soccer, though," he added, nudging Sinead's shoulder. "But she's actually really funny, and it was a tolerable week." His words were light, but he winced slightly and added, "I think she's developed a crush on me, though."

"Oooh!" Said Sinead and Ted appreciatively. Ned rolled his eyes.

Sinead saw Amy walking by with a coffee cup. In the bit of time the Starlings had been there, they'd seen a few Cahills come and go, but she hadn't seen Amy yet- though she'd been told that she was there, Amy had been getting a snack.

"Oh- I see Amy. I'm gonna go talk to her really quick, okay?" Sinead stood up, quickly walking after Amy. When she caught up to her friend, she poked her in the shoulder. "Amy!" Sinead said.

Amy turned around, and when she saw Sinead, she smiled. "Hi, Sinead!"

"Oh my gosh, I hardly saw you at all this week," Sinead said, shaking her head. "You know we have tons to talk about, right?" Her tone was serious, but Amy laughed.

"Yeah, we do."

"I'll tell you about it via Skype, okay? I have to get on my plane soon." Sinead said, frowning slightly. "But for now, I'll just say... I sincerely hope that your week went as well as mine did. And also, make the next social adventure one where I can hang out with you." Sinead hugged her friend and winked at her.

"Okay!" Amy said, laughing a little bit.

Suddenly Sinead heard some loud voices that had 'Holt' written all over them. "Gotta run," Sinead said apologetically to her friend. She hurried to return to her spot on the bench with Ned and Ted, her heart hammering. She saw Hamilton- he looked annoyed, and was also trying to separate Madison and Reagan, who appeared to be attempting to claw each other's eyes out. (Hamilton was really big, but this task was hard even for him.)

Eisenhower was yelling at them, and Mary Todd looked on in sympathy. Hamilton rolled his eyes, abandoning his family members. His eyes scanned the giant room and Sinead's heart jolted in her chest when their eyes met. Hamilton smiled at her and jogged over to meet her.

"Hey," he greeted, and Sinead was glad that he had made it in time to see her before she left. "Sorry I'm so late, my family is crazy." Hamilton smiled again, and she knew that he was joking. As they were both Cahills, they were ALL kind of family, unfortunately- and they were ALL kind of crazy.

"It's fine," Sinead said nonchalantly, but she wished that she'd gotten up to meet him in the middle, because it was awkward with Ned and Ted there, too. Ted had this annoyingly all-knowing smile on his face, and Ned was looking at Hamilton rather pointedly, as if making the final assessments that he would be a good boyfriend for Sinead.

"Hi, dudes." Hamilton said, shaking Ned and Ted's hands. They greeted him back, but didn't say another word- both of them weren't interested in starting a conversation. They probably knew Sinead wanted to talk to Hamilton.

"Uhm, Hamilton, let's go look at that sign over there." Sinead announced lamely. Both of her brothers laughed at her. Rolling her eyes, she took Hamilton's hand and pulled him away, out of the sight line of both the remainders of the Holt family and Ned and Ted.

"What sign?" Hamilton asked. She rolled her eyes.

"I just said that so that we wouldn't have to stand over there with Ned and Ted."

"...Oh."

Sinead laughed, truly glad he'd come to say goodbye. "My flight leaves soon." She said aloud, letting him know their time was limited. Hamilton nodded.

"Right," he said. "Well..." He smiled. "It's been a good week."

"It has," she agreed.

"I'll call you," he promised. "And we can Skype. And I can text you."

Sinead laughed at his earnest expression. "Sounds good," she said. She waited, hoping he might say something else. Something pertaining to their relationship. But he wasn't saying anything, and she realized that she was sort of frowning, and then that he was sort of frowning, too.

"Sinead," he said thoughtfully, "-can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Sinead said hopefully. "Shoot."

"Will you be my girlfriend? Like... Officially?" He asked hopefully. OF COURSE! She wanted to yell. But instead, she allowed for a grin to break out on her face, and she said,

"I'm very between the slow lane and the fast lane right now. But I was waiting for you to ask me that... I'm not a very patient person. So the answer is yes." Sinead beamed, and he smiled along with her, looking sweetly relieved. What, had he thought she would actually say NO?

"That's... good." He said, still smiling faintly. "I see you soon. I'm sure there will be some weird Cahill thing that we've all got to attend." He glanced at his watch. "You should go- it looks like Ned and Ted are already headed for boarding." He looked sad, and it was adorable. "Bye. And say bye to Lincoln for me."

Sinead raised an eyebrow, not about to let her awesome week end on a boring, disappointing note. She grabbed Hamilton's hand, pulling him close to her. Sometimes, she thought to herself, you've just got to do things on your own until people figure it out for themselves... She liked that she had to stand on tiptoe a little bit to kiss him. She liked that he was taller than her, when she'd so often been the tall girl. She liked that she could feel him smiling as their lips met.

She hated him before, and now he was her boyfriend.

...Things can change quickly.

Sinead drew away from him, grinning. "NOW I can leave." She said confidently, butterflies in her stomach from that kiss. She walked away, headed towards where Ned, Ted, and Lincoln sat waiting.

She left him smiling, and she felt rather like she'd done a lot of healing this week. She used to be so damaged, holding grudges from things long past. She was insecure, and she still was, and might always be somewhat- but she was on the road towards more confidence in herself, and she'd forgiven the Holts for the bomb during the clue hunt. That stuff... Was old news. Something that she couldn't fix now.

And she knew that, and she was fine with it.

"Ready to go?" Ned asked Sinead. She glanced back over her shoulder, and she saw that Hamilton had rejoined his family. He waved to her, and she waved back. Another huge smile spread across her face.

"Yup," she said.

**~Dan~**

"Amy, did you get me a coffee?"

"No. Why on earth would I get YOU a coffee? Daniel Cahill plus coffee sounds like a terrible idea to me... Besides, this is hot chocolate."

"Hey! ...And you're so weird, Amy. Nobody drinks hot chocolate in the middle of summer."

Amy rolled her eyes at Dan and he slumped back in his seat. He was bored. It wasn't as if he needed to be here- there was no flight he needed to get on. He would be staying right here, at home, in Attleboro. But Fiske, Nellie and Amy had all ganged up on him, insisting that he accompany them to give everyone the kindest of farewells.

B.O.R.I.N.G.

Dan was impatient. According to Nellie's phone, which had a record of everyone's flights, Dan would be stuck here for at least another 3 hours... And they'd already waved off a few families. In truth, it wasn't too bad to wait, but only because he was waiting for Natalie. Once she came and left on her flight, she'd be GONE, and he'd have NOTHING to do. He was practicing for when that time came.

"Hey Amy, why are you so QUIET?" Dan complained. Amy did seem abnormally quiet, even if she wasn't usually the loudest person in the room... She had hardly said a word to anyone at all today unless someone else engaged her in a conversation first. It was so boring right now that Dan probably would have been glad if his sister had started spouting off random historical facts, 'cause he was getting sick of hearing nothing but the sound of people walking by where he sat.

Amy paled, looking up from her phone screen. That was another thing- Amy hardly ever touched her phone. Why was she looking at it so intently? "I'm tired." Amy said quietly. Oblivious to the world, Nellie sat beside Amy, listening to her iPod. Fiske sat next to her, actually reading a newspaper. (Who even did that anymore?)

Dan frowned. "Is something, like... wrong?" He asked Amy. A picture of Ian Cobra popped into his mind and he frowned. Ian hadn't, like, done something to Amy, right? Natalie had been so sure that Ian really liked Amy...

(Ew.)

"Nothing is wrong." Amy said calmly.

"Is this about Ian?" Dan asked skeptically, ignoring her last remark. Dan watched his sister's cheeks turn pink. Yup, he thought. Definitely about Ian. "Do I have to beat him up for you?"

"What? No!" Amy snapped. "As if you even could. There's nothing wrong with me, okay? And... nothing going on that concerns Ian."

Dan could see that she didn't want to talk about it, whatever it was- though she was quite obviously lying. So he just let it go with a little eye roll, hoping that whatever was bothering her wasn't too big of a deal. Suddenly, though, he saw Ian himself and, much more importantly, Natalie Kabra coming towards them. Dan straightened in his chair, about to stand up. But he paused, glancing at Amy.

His sister looked rigid when she saw the Kabras, the color draining from her face once more. Dan frowned again. "Amy... I was gonna go talk to Nat. Will you be okay if, er, if Ian comes over here?" Dan had stuck by Amy's side through the whole clue hunt, and he continued to do that now. He was not about to leave her alone with creepy Ian Kabra if she wasn't okay with it.

Amy actually smiled, looking touched. (Which made Dan roll his eyes again.) "It's fine, Dan. Go talk to Natalie..." Amy's small smile turned into a beaming grin. "Are you guys friends now? I mean... you and 'Nat'?"

Dan stood up, feeling mildly embarrassed. He didn't let it show, though. He actually smiled. "Yup." He said, which seemed to completely surprise Amy. "Gotta go!" He added hurriedly. He saluted his sister and headed towards the Kabras. As a just-in-case precautionary measure, Dan glared at Ian. Y'know. Just in case.

Ian looked at Dan with particular dislike in his eyes, and then he walked right past him without otherwise acknowledging him. Dan ignored it- that was totally normal for him and Ian.

"Hi," Dan greeted Natalie, unable to look at her now without grinning. She was wearing this dress that was blue and white, and she looked really cute. (As usual.)

"Hello, Dan." Natalie said. She smiled at him faintly, but she looked rather interested in Ian approaching Amy. Suddenly, though, Natalie grabbed Dan's arm, pulling him away from the others. Bewildered, Dan let her drag him a bit before asking,

"Where the heck are we going?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "I just didn't want to intrude on Amy and Ian." They were standing behind a large sign now, and Natalie peeked out from behind it, her hair falling into her eyes before she pushed it away. Her eyes narrowed, and she shook her head. "God, my brother is such an idiot... Whatever, not anything I can do about it from here." Natalie said. She smirked.

"Your brother IS an idiot," Dan conceded, nodding along to her words. A bit of quiet relief welled up inside of him, though- he was glad she wasn't trying to hide being with him. No, he thought. She changed her mind about that... And when he thought that, he knew it was true, because she'd put up with his dancing for an awful long time the night before... And Dan sucked at dancing. Even he knew that. He smiled.

Natalie sighed, drawing back from her peeking-out stance. She looked at Dan, frowning. "What?"

It was easy to stare at her. "Nothing," he responded, trying his hand at a smirk. (Er, his mouth?) Natalie looked skeptical at his attempt, but then she began to laugh at him. Dan smiled again, marveling at how crazy this week had been. Some of the stuff that had happened... it seemed impossible.

They'd pranked Ian. They'd eaten McDonald's and Natalie had had her first Coca Cola. They'd kicked Will Goldmin's butt. Natalie had threatened to poison Dan, which had resulted in them going shopping. Dan had received Hope's locket, which resided in his pocket right now and always would. He and Natalie had been covered in smoothie and locked in a closet. They'd gone to an amusement park, Natalie's very first. He'd told her he LIKED her, of all things, and yet it was so true now...

This week had been like some kind of miracle.

"...Does our week seem really crazy to you?" Dan asked, leaning back against the sign. "Like... impossible-crazy, almost?"

Natalie grinned. "It seems VERY impossible, if you ask me." She said calmly. "I did a LOT of things I never would have if it wasn't for you." She scoffed slightly. Custom Natalie-style, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and smirked. But it felt good to know that she was happy- because he could tell she was.

Dan smiled at her. "That's a good thing, though," he urged. "C'mon. Admit that it's a good thing."

Natalie's resolve only lasted about 2 seconds before she agreed. "...It kind of is a good thing."

Dan grinned, fist-pumping the air. "Woo!" He yelled, and Natalie rolled her eyes at him. She grabbed his wrist, looking at his beat-up Spider-Man watch;

"Dan, I only have a minute- I have to board my plane. When you're traveling first class, it's considered polite to show up on time." She was still smirking, but the smirk seemed to fade, and Dan's smile fell. That meant she had to leave. As in, go. And unless she came by to visit, it might be a while until he saw her next.

"Alright," he said dejectedly. Without giving it much thought, he pulled her close to him, breathing in the smell of jasmine that was now naturally associated with her in his brain. She hugged him back, and even though she was leaving and that kind of bummed the mood, she was Natalie Kabra and she was HUGGING him, and she LIKED him. Liked him BACK. And that felt nice in a new way to Dan. "Bye, Nat," he whispered into her hair.

"Bye, Dan," Natalie said, her voice slightly muffled. She waited a few moments, and then he heard her say, this muffled as well, "Uh, Dan? You have to let go."

"Oh," Dan said. He grinned, drawing away from her. "Sorry." He laughed at the embarrassed look on her face, but before she could complain to him, he just smiled, shaking his head, and said, "Goodbye, Natalie." And he kissed her on the cheek.

In all honesty, it felt kind of cheesy and weird to him. He wasn't used to this. Girls. Er, girl. Natalie Kabra. This was new to him, and he wanted to kiss her, actually- kind of a lot. But he had no idea how the heck to kiss a girl, and the prospect was kind of scary, and there was still parts of Dan that wanted to smack himself in the face with a brick for even LIKING a girl, let alone THIS girl.

But the gesture seemed to surprise Natalie (in a good way, he hoped). Her eyelashes fluttered for a moment before coming to a stop, her honey-amber eyes wide. She was usually quick to react, though- and she smiled a lovely, elegant smile. And then she did something that he found was more surprising than anything else that had happened this week.

She grabbed his shirt and kissed him.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't, like, a kiss-kiss. You know? But for a very short moment, their lips were touching, and it had been her doing and not his. And that little touch was all it took to make him feel like there were illegal explosives going off inside of him. Now he was the surprised one, eyes wide. He thought for a moment that he might fall over.

Natalie stepped away from him, adjusting her purse on her shoulder. That familiar smirk returned to her lips. "I had to one-up you." She declared.

And on that interesting little note, she winked at him and walked away, calling over her shoulder, "Au revoir, mon crétin. Je vais vous voir bientôt, je l'espère!" And she even gave him a little wave.

Dan stared after her, a little bit confused and a little bit dazed. (Because he didn't speak French, and... God. She'd kissed him.)

A wide, goofy smile broke out across his face. She kissed me, he thought.

Natalie Kabra kissed me.

**~Amy~**

He's walking over here, Amy thought, paralyzed. Her palms were sweating. He's coming over here, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Act natural?! Casual?!

Nerves were making her heart beat unusually fast, and that felt all too noticeable to her, like everyone in the airport might be able to hear it, too.

She still couldn't believe Ian had kissed her.

Amy felt incredibly relieved that she was sitting. She wasn't sure she could face Ian standing, and she was starting to regret letting Dan scamper off. Because... that... that KISS. After she'd fixed up his hand. It had been like someone had suddenly flipped a switch, and all of the sudden, they were close, and he was leaning down to kiss her.

That kiss. Oh God.

How could a kiss even feel like that?

"Hello, Amy." Ian said calmly, reaching her. In his hands were his suitcases, and his entire presence seemed very relaxed and calm. HE'S not freaking out, Amy thought, well, freaking out. She bit the inside of her cheek, a million different thoughts racing through her head.

Last night, after the kiss... she'd been so stupid about it. You can't just get KISSED by a boy (Ian Kabra!) and pretend that you DIDN'T. Yet, that was what she'd tried to do. She'd been sure she would die of humiliation, or of how fast her heart was beating. "R-right," she'd squeaked finally after he had uttered a 'sorry', his dark eyes still looking down into hers. "Y-y-your hand should be okay now." And on that note, she'd backed up, tripping slightly, and fairly fled, completely NOT understanding what had just happened.

"H-hi." Amy said now, wishing for all the world that Nellie and Fiske weren't so distracted with their iPod and newspaper, respectively.

Ian nodded towards her, and then glanced over behind his shoulder. "Natalie's already run off." He said with a snort. When he turned back to Amy and his eyes met hers once more, she felt her heart stop in her chest, and for a moment, she was afraid that it wouldn't start beating again. Ian crossed his arms. "We need to talk," Ian declared, and she wished he was saying something else, like, "My flight is leaving now, goodbye."

"A-about what?" Amy stuttered. Of COURSE she knew what. Ian rolled his eyes.

"Come with me." He said, and he turned around and began walking away, and Amy stared after him. Should I even follow him? She wondered desperately. But she found herself rising to follow him, anyway, and her legs were shaking slightly and suddenly all she could remember was the feeling on his lips on hers- it was not unlike how she had felt in Korea, but that felt so long ago now, and this was like that feeling but magnified times a thousand, because this- this had been a real kiss.

An actual, real kiss, with feelings poured into it.

Or was it not a real kiss, because she'd been too stunned to kiss back?

Everything felt unclear to Amy. Her feelings from before, when she'd been in the car with Ian- and she'd been thinking how there always seemed to be two sides to him. Those feelings hadn't gone away. But the difference was that he hadn't kissed her then, but last night, he had, and she'd liked it, actually. A lot.

And now he claimed they had to talk...

Ian stopped, and Amy slowed down for the last few strides, not really all that eager to reach him. His gaze seemed extra piercing today, and it was making her feel uncomfortable. (As usual.)

"Amy." He said, and he leaned against the wall.

They were in some corner now, further away from the noises of other people coming and going, and there was a little gift shop here, but it was all closed up with a sign taped on the door that proclaimed it closed for restocking until Tuesday. Amy felt like her jaw was glued shut, and she was unable to say anything, so Ian went on.

"I shouldn't have kissed you." He said, and he smiled slightly, a grim sort of smile. "But I'm going to be honest with you- I'm glad that I did," he said, and he went on, "-and there's only a small part of me that feels bad about it." Amy frowned. What was that supposed to mean? It sounded so rude. He SHOULD have asked for permission, really. She hadn't really wanted to kiss him...

A tiny bit of anger worked its way inside of her. "Y-y-you shouldn't have done it!" She spluttered, and she knew that with those words she'd shattered the very bad illusion that she'd been trying to maintain of her ignorance on the subject. But she didn't want... this. Whatever this was. She didn't want this to be happening.

"I know." He said.

"Then why don't you feel bad about it?" She demanded.

He smirked. "Because it felt too nice to kiss you for me to actually feel bad about it now." He said. Amy could feel her face turning completely pink, and she tried to find words to say, but there didn't seem to be any words left inside her head- she'd forgotten for a moment how to speak English. And then he said, "And I knew I'd never have another chance."

"W-what?" She whispered, confused, but he seemed to ignore her, or to just go right on, or both, and he seemed to be on a roll now. They weren't so close, but he moved a little closer, and she moved a little farther away, nerves making her stomach tight.

"Amy, listen." Ian said carefully. "I realized something last night. I can't... stick around anymore. Not if I'm just going to be your friend." His arms had fallen to his sides before, but he crossed them again. And he suddenly looked mad. "Do you even know how liking you makes me feel?" He snapped. "It's hard. I'm not used to this kind of thing." Amy stared at him, slightly dumbfounded. "Caring." He added spitefully.

"What do you mean you can't stick around anymore?" She asked. Her voice was quiet but there was a hard edge to it. Her green eyes narrowed.

"I meant that I'd rather be WITHOUT you than WITH you as just friends." He said clearly, not the least bit un-confident. He still seemed kind of mad, and Amy realized with a start how close they had become. When did that happen? His eyes narrowed, but they seemed to lose their anger, and Amy realized that he wasn't really mad at her, anyway. Maybe he was just mad at... himself, or something. "I wish you were mine, Amy." He said softly.

Amy stood for a moment, stunned. This was Ian Kabra. Who'd kind of tried to kill her a bunch of times. And yes, that was the past and he had changed- but this seemed such an incredibly far stretch from that, and she was starting to think this was a dream she was having, or maybe even a nightmare. "Y-y-you can't own a person." Amy said, attempting to shoot him a glare because she didn't know what else to do. "P-people aren't property."

He laughed, amused. "True." He said. She frowned.

"Ian... I'm confused."

"About what?"

"You."

Ian looked down at her, and his arms dropped and his hands moved to his pockets, and he said rather thoughtfully, "I'll make it easy for you. Either you admit that you rather enjoyed me kissing you last night, or I walk out of your life forever." He said, just as calmly as he'd said "hello" before. Amy gaped at him. That's completely dramatic! She thought.

But she felt a pit of dread growing in her stomach because... well, because he kind of seemed like he meant it. That he'd leave. And Amy couldn't imagine him just walking out of her life. Surely he wouldn't do that? Couldn't do that? Ian was a Cahill, too. He was part of her family. "That's not fair!" She burst, her eyes stinging with the threat of impending tears. She really didn't want to cry in front of him, but she was starting to feel like she might.

"I think it is," Ian shot back with a slight scoff, back to being angry. "You don't understand the effect you can have."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Amy yelled, crossing her arms. Her eyes filled with tears. Nothing felt easy right now- she was still trying to sort out exactly how she felt about Ian. Last night, she'd promised herself that she'd figure everything out- but that was before he KISSED her, which actually helped her to know that, yes, she liked him back, but a little bit too much, and she could obviously see now that things would never work out between them.

She wished her yell was loud enough to attract someone's- anyone's- attention, but it wasn't.

"It means," Ian said, looking startled at her tears and opening his tightly clamped jaws, "-that nearly everything you do causes me to like you more. Tell me, is that fair?" He demanded. "I won't be getting over you any time soon, Amy Cahill- and I've got a bad feeling that it might be never if I'm constantly around you."

She stared at him.

She'd been sure there were two sides of him- the side of him that was nicer, usually to her, and the side of him that was mean to he sometimes, and always to everyone else. But there weren't exactly two sides to him- that was just... the way he WAS. And Amy thought of how nasty he'd been at the restaurant with Sinead and Hamilton- but how he'd apologized, and he'd actually been sorry and made the effort to go and make that known...

Maybe Ian Kabra was just being himself now, and himself was still a lot of a jerk, but he was working on it, working his way towards being a better person, even if he'd never completely lose all of the qualities that made him a jerk right now.

That was him. That was who he was.

Ian looked on distastefully at her gaping, and then he looked at his watch. "Say your last goodbye to me," he grumbled, "-because I'm getting on my flight, and I'm never coming back here." He looked at her once more before turning away. "I can't be JUST FRIENDS with you. That isn't going to work for me. Goodbye."

He turned away from her, and across the way, Amy saw Natalie already walking away from the other Cahills and towards her plane flight. Ian was walking to join her.

You can't just tell me that and then leave! Amy wanted to scream after him. Was he even serious? Her head was reeling. She needed to do something- what exactly was she supposed to do in this situation? Biting her lip, she trailed after Ian, slowly at first, then more quickly, running to catch up, thinking harshly to herself that she had one shot at this, sort of, one shot to do SOMETHING about this giant mess.

And when she caught up to him, she did something that really neither one of them was expecting.

She grabbed his hand, making him come to a full stop, and she looked up into his eye and said, "You c-can't leave yet, Ian."

He scoffed. "The flight isn't going to wait for me, Amy."

"I'm n-not expecting it to!" Amy said, anxiousness gnawing inside her stomach. "J-j-just... wait, please." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she was ready to do something that felt rather drastic- she stood up straighter and wrapped her arms around him, and even as her cheeks turned a furiously embarrassed shade of pink, she whispered, "I'm not going to let you walk out of my life, Ian." And she could feel his surprised when she kissed him.

He was warm and almost right away, she could feel him kissing her back. My first real kiss, she though to herself, and her cheeks felt like they were on fire. Kissing him felt... Nice. Like, butterflies in the stomach, head-in-the-clouds kind of nice, actually. Embarrassingly nice- especially when the thought came to mind, Why the heck didn't I kiss him back last night?

When they broke apart, he had this immensely satisfied look on his face, with hints of smirky-ness. She'd never considered that it was possible to feel this embarrassed.

"God, Amy." He said, grinning. "That was some kiss. I suppose that means that you've fallen for me."

"S-stop t-t-trying to embarrass me," Amy muttered, ignoring his words, and her old stutter had slipped back into her voice as a result of kissing him and being close to him and her nerves. She felt kind of lightheaded. That was probably not good. "Don't you have a plane to catch, or something?" She mumbled, avoiding his gaze.

Ian laughed, pulling her close to him again. Her heart was beating crazy-fast, and it felt as though her gaze was magnetically attracted to his. "I do," he said to her, "-and the flight will be much more tolerable now that I know that you're mine." When he said that, she felt like retorting again that people weren't objects, but her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth, and she couldn't speak. He kissed the top of her head, and he sighed. "It's good to know that I won't have to get over you." He whispered, and on that note, he simply walked away.

For the second time today, Amy felt dumbfounded as she watched him leave without so much as a glance over his shoulder.

Now that I know you're mine, he'd said.

Amy stared until she could no longer see Ian Kabra, and then she turned around, headed for her seat, feeling kind of woozy, and mildly confused. What just happened? She thought, but she kind of knew what had happened- she'd made her decision. She liked Ian Kabra.

A lot.

As soon as she admitted that to herself in finality, she relaxed. The decision had been made. And after that kiss... Amy couldn't help but feel like it was a good one. A really good one.

"This was one crazy week," she whispered to herself, pausing to touch her lips, which had been touched by Ian Kabra's. A sudden burst of happiness filled her and she walked a few more paces, sitting down again where she'd been sitting before, near Nellie and Fiske. Amy brought her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs, and she smiled into her knees. She couldn't help it.

This week... it CERTAINLY had had its ups and downs. But it seemed like so much good had come from it. The weirdest sets of people had become friends, had learned to get along, just as she'd hoped. Even Sinead and Hamilton, and Dan and Natalie (which seemed particularly insane) and... herself and Ian. Her cheeks glowed pink again, and she was glad that Ian had had to leave so quickly, because she was certain she would have embarrassed herself a LOT more if he'd stuck around for a while.

Still, Amy felt triumphant. She really, really felt like a Madrigal now- like she was following in her parents' footsteps. Maybe that was silly after only one little week, but she really did.

Fiske peered out at Amy from behind his newspaper, and he cleared his throat. "Amy, I want to let you know that you did a fantastic job with the social adventure this week... I think I'll be asking you to plan a lot more of them from now on. You're a lovely addition to the Madrigal team."

Amy glowed with pride, beaming now. "Thank you," she said, embarrassment creeping into her tone. The idea of planning more social adventures was actually pretty terrifying and stressful, but also humbling, because Fiske would be entrusting her with responsibilities that he believed that she deserved. For now, Amy thought, I'll focus on the good stuff- and worry about stress when the time for that rolls around.

Amy sank back into her seat, breathing out deeply. She could relax now- she wouldn't see Ian Kabra or any of her other extended Cahill family members for a while now, and things would go back to be sort of peaceful at her house... (Well, as peaceful as it could be to live with Dan.)

Another smile worked its way onto Amy's lips, and she thought of herself kissing Ian.

This was, she thought to herself, her smile stretching wider, a fantastic week.

**~The End~**

_A/N_

_Holy crap, guys. I finished it. I FINISHED THIS STORY._

_ASDFGHJKL;'_

_*Sobbing* I FRICKIN' FINISHED IT_

_Thank you guys SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO much. Bless y'all. For the last time, here are the questions- and I would LOVE it if you guys all reviewed and told me if you liked the end? Pretty please?_

_1) How do you like the way that the partners relationships developed over the week? (I personally like that Natalie and Dan became good friends, because together... They could wreak havoc, man. xD I also really liked Sinead's growing as a person as a result of becoming friends with Hamilton, and uhm, I love Amian. That is all.)_

_2) Do you like apple juice? (I hate it, it tastes like liquid old person. - That didn't make any sense.)_

_3) Who's storyline did you enjoy most overall?_

_4) DID YOU LIKE THE LAST CHAPTER AND THE ENDING OVERALL?!_

_GOD BLESS Y'ALL! PEACE OUT, LOVES!_

_(It's over! Holy crap I finished it!)_

_~Lovely_


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